Fairy Tail: Draconic Adventure
by The wiErDos Association
Summary: What if Natsu never actually died in the first place? And that Zeref never walked the path of being the Black Mage? A new adventure awaits. Join to the new side of adventure as the Dragneels cope their lives in the world of magic and dragons. (An alternate route of the original story.)
1. Prologue

**A/N: Heya, guys... Wassup! wiErD here and I just got another brilliant idea. Everyone never seemed to wonder about how would the course of the manga Fairy Tail would actually go if and only if Natsu didn't die and remain human. What do you see? A new plot of course. Everything starting from Zeref's obsession in life and death to his creation of the so-called Etherious will never happen if it weren't for his dear little brother's death.**

 **Let's take another route of the plot now shall we?**

 **Remember, this is an alternate story wherein Natsu didn't die, thus Fairy Tail isn't exactly present here so keep in mind to those who wanted to bring up characters from Fairy Tail for no reason. This story will mostly circle around the life of the Dragneels as they cope to the world 400 or so years ago. OCs are present also so be reminded. All arcs are not available here.**

 **Disclaimer: I never own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. Hiro Mashima owns them...**

* * *

 **\- Prologue: Born in the Distant Summers -**

 _The land of Ishgar is full of majestic beauty carved by nature itself in a millennium._

 _Inhabited by many creatures, the peninsula has been an ancient forefront of Earthland itself. Lush trees and floras occupied the lower lands and desolate, icy blizzards dominate the mountains. Showered by the ever changing seasons, the ancient land have its own marvelous forests and oceans that is the most distinctive feature that define the very land itself._

 _Of course, the land has also never lost its prominent inhabitants. Humans are one of a kind. They live peacefully in remote places like forests and grasslands._ _No one sure knows of how they migrated to Ishgar but they've been the land's long-surviving species despite having to live in fear towards a more higher being that dominates the land and to themselves._

 _Dragons._

 _That's right._

 _Even though being known to be a beautiful place, Ishgar had its shares of great danger apart from its beautiful remarks. Dragons are counted one among them. Like the humans, dragons have existed long enough to call the land their home and eventually has all of its riches, including the humans. Being the embodiment of destruction and hell, many creatures have feared them for a very long time. There were no defiance or debates among the inhabitants except for a fact that they are counted to be as the highest form of species that ever existed._

 _No one would be ever as higher than that. As a result, many humans considered them as their rulers and gods but despite the praises and their worthiness of worship, the dragons never changed their outlook upon them except for being expendable creatures for their appetite._

 _.._

 _.._

 _Until one day, one dragon spoke about the coexistence between two races of mankind and dragon, thus dividing the superior race with two sides that soon engulfed the whole world in flames and destruction. Lands were burned to the ground, skies filled the air with smoke and fire and lives were lost in the midst of the devastating war. All seemed to end in a stalemate until the dragons who wished for the coexistence of humans devised a new strategy._

 _.._

 _The birth of the dragonslayers._

 _.._

 _.._

 _By involving mankind into war, a new form of human warriors have finally turned the tide of the war to their favor._

 _And this is where our story begins._

* * *

 _ **Ishgar -**_ ** _June 5, X280 (In a nearby forest...)_**

The chirping of the birds from their nests filled the silent area as the enthralling sounds of nature simply occupied the atmosphere. Sunlight flickered from the leaves on the branches as it swayed gracefully from the faint movements of the wind outside. The presence of the bright light also attracted small creatures to crawl out from their dark homes and embraced its warmth, leaving out in the open welcoming the morning daylight.

A small figure crept through the shadows as he stalked a deer lying beside a stream, keeping his sights on it without any distraction like a predator it would seem to be. Twigs snap silently as he neared towards it with a small pointed spear on his right hand before gesturing it and aimed it to the creature's head.

The deer had seemingly raised its head that was nuzzled beside its body in alarm as the figure stopped momentarily before eyes between deer and the human finally met. Sensing both danger and death towards it, the deer immediately stood up and tried sprint away but the hunter was able to react fast enough to thrust its weapon towards its head and finally fell down on the ground.

It gave convulsive movements for a moment until it finally died down as the figure walked towards it, carrying a huge sack on his other hand and eventually sat beside the dead creature and tried to get his spear back from its head before wiping of the blood smeared onto it. Slowly putting the dead creature inside the sack, the figure simply wiped off a bead of sweat from his forehead as his face turned carefree after that seemingly hunter-induced expression towards the creature.

"That finally serves as the last count then... I guess, this should cover us with enough food in the next three days." He spoke lightly in glee as he finally made his kill for today. Hunting was no easy job and to be able to complete one is already an achievement for him.

Slowly dragging the heavy loot towards his direction, the figure simply began his journey back to the open fields as he neared towards the boundary between the forest and the open fields.

After a few minutes of dragging, he finally made his way out of the forest and eventually found himself in a small village just at the center of the fields, surrounded by the forest as trees had seemingly covered around it as if it was completely isolated from the outside world. Situated at the back of a mountain, the village itself was rich in its farming agriculture as the inhabitants mostly worked on hunting and plowing fields for their basis of living. Most of the people were simple folks who gathered into one place and eventually formed a small community that benefited them both in their daily lives in which finally created this small village.

There are also children roaming around the village, playing with each other while the adults watched them from afar with warm smiles as they continued tending their fields to work. Elders who were the leaders of the village are also seen gathering into one place, guiding the rest of the people as they tried to maintain the peace as long as possible.

The figure eventually made his way back to his home which is only a simple hut just like the rest of the houses in the village. The structure of the house itself was mostly made out of straw and was poorly built on the outside. A small window is only seen from the side of it as the figure laid down the sack for a moment and tried to enter inside.

Slowly calling out from the entrance, the boy finally began to speak.

"I'm home!" As his voice reverberated from the silent hut, another figure came from the inside the greet the boy. He was lean muscular man with black spiky hair that slightly protrude from all direction with most of it sliding to the right side. He seemed to wear simple clothes which consisted of a brown farmer shirt with baggy pants that reaches down to his feet in which contained a pair of worn-out boots just like the rest of the people in the village as he eventually showed himself in front of the door where the boy was.

"Oh, it's good to have you back, Zeref... I was starting to get worried." The boy named Zeref simply beamed back towards the man before him.

"I can handle myself, father... Look, I got a kill from my hunt earlier." Zeref pointed over to the large sack beside the house which only made the man to smile in relief.

"Well, I'm glad that you were able to help... Sorry for making you do my things. Sofia is still recovering and I can't leave her alone in the house." He sheepishly replied back towards the black-haired boy who then remembered something after hearing that news.

"Speaking of mother, is she alright?" Zeref asked worriedly but his father could only put up a smile once more before motioning himself and led him inside.

"Come see for yourself." Zeref followed him inside and slowly made their way towards the room and eventually saw a woman with a black silky hair that simply cascaded down to her shoulders and back. She seemed to be wearing simple clothes which only consisted of a white short sleeved shirt with a light brown worn-out long skirt that reaches down to her feet. She also seemed to be holding a small baby in her hands who was lightly crying for quite some time. Despite the cries of the newborn child, Sofia couldn't deny a very faint smile that soon crept unto her lips as her eyes gazed upon the baby she was holding.

It took her a couple of seconds to finally realized Zeref and her husband from the door and eventually called out to the black-haired boy.

"Zeref... You've come back..."

"I'm home, mother." Zeref replied with a smile before trying to make his way towards her and curiously looked at the baby who then eventually managed to see him face to face which also stopped his crying.

"Isn't he cute?" Sofia cooed.

"Yes, he is... Do you have a name for him?" Zeref turned over to the black-haired woman who slowly shook her head disapprovingly before glancing back to him once again.

"I was thinking that you would be the one who would give a name to him, Zeref... What do you think?" She replied which slightly surprised the boy since he never did this kind of thing before. Slowly recomposing himself, Zeref pondered for a moment and tried to think up a way to give his little brother a name. Looking at the door window outside, he saw the warm heat of the sun shining down on the world outside, accompanied by gentle winds as it blew past the plants that swayed gracefully beside it.

His mind trailed off in thought as both Sofia and her husband looked at him in confusion as they saw him seemingly spaced out for some reason.

"Natsu... ..." He muttered which caught their attention as they looked back at him with a puzzled look.

"Natsu?"

"A-Ah, I was just thinking of the summer so I thought that it would be... umm." Zeref panicked for a moment until Sofia simply smiled in response to his answer.

"Natsu... That's a great name." She faintly spoke in relief before looking towards the baby in hand and nuzzled her head beside him.

Zeref, on the other hand smiled in content and not before long slightly wincing in pain as he felt his father hand roughly patting his back, causing the black-haired boy to stumbled forward before looking back at him with irritation.

"Natsu Dragneel, huh? That's a pretty good name... I knew you could do it..!" He grinned widely in spirit as he stifled a proud laugh towards them.

"Don't be like that, Zeke-kun... You're the one who gave Zeref a name." Sofia smiled warmly.

"Haha! It's nowhere different from my name... I jumbled them a lot to be honest." Zeke made a gruntled laugh before realizing the time of the day. "Ah, I gotta go back to the fields... I'll have to leave the chores to you now, Zeref."

"Of course, father... I'll take it from here." And with that, Zeke finally left from the room and went out from the hut to tend to the field along with the other farmers. Zeref and Sofia simply stayed at the room before the former began to look curiously at Natsu who giggled after seeing his face. A small smile crept its way towards his lips before shifting his gaze back to Sofia with the same cute smile.

"Listen, Zeref... From now on, you're gonna be his big brother... Be sure to take care of him, okay?" Sofia looked back to the black-haired toddler.

"Of course, I'll try to be the best brother I can be for him!" He proudly declared while making a pumpfist in the air. After a moment, finally returned his attention towards the baby with beaming smile on his face.

"Big brother, huh... I like the sound of that."

* * *

 **A/N: Sup! Here's another story for you guys! Note again that there's gonna no FT characters in the present time appearing in this fic since this takes place in a far more ancient time even before Mavis so keep in mind. I'll be only featuring about Natsu and Zeref in this fic with additional OCs and there such as their parents. Before you all could even ask, I have plans for the involvement of Igneel and the dragons... END is also out in the league this time just to remind people who wished to see END/Natsu here in this fic.**

 **That's all for now in this prologue. I'll see you on the first chapter. I might or not update this fic regularly since I have my own focus on a certain story so I'll just keep posting whenever I feel it or if I set my priorities in this story in the future.**

 **\- wiErD SpeCtrumz blacking out... ... ...**


	2. Fire in the Sky

**A/N: Helo everyone, wiErD here... As promised, I got the first chapter up and running now since my head was in it so yeah. Hope ya like it.**

 **So a lot has been talking about the pairing of the story. Right now, there's isn't because I originally made this to a broship between two brothers and since I haven't progressed the story far, I didn't think much of it. Nonetheless, I might have to reconsider it once this story gets more chapters in the future and that way both me and the readers will be able to set a better insight of the pairing you wanted it to be.**

 **Another thing... The time travel plot will be not available here. There will be no Eclipse project going on since Zeref on the canon took part in it and since the Zeref here in this fic is not going to be like him, it's unlikely to bring up such a plan in the first place. And he didn't cause Acnologia because he's not the Black Mage here. Speaking of who, I have some plans on how I'll involve him in the story together with the four other children that was sent into the future because this is also their present time.**

 **Disclaimer: I never own FT or all of its elements. Hiro Mashima owns them..**

* * *

 **\- Fire in the Sky -**

 _ **May 25, X287**_

Seven years has passed.

Peace has been a fixture to the people in the village for a very long time. They never actually cared about the span of time going around the world as they lived to their simple yet satisfying lives with their families. Isolated from the human kingdoms established all over the peninsula, the people never known much of the outside world as they were never influenced by it and continued to live according to their current activities though they sometimes visit towns just to buy their necessary needs. Most of them never dared to venture far from their village because they felt that this is their ancestral homeland and should not be abandoned.

In addition to that, the village was never affected by the world's problems and most of them thought that keeping their lives normal as it is will prevent them from getting involved in it.

Near the outlying trees in the forest surrounding the village, two boys snuck their way towards a boar as it stops by near a riverstream to satiate its thirst from the long journey. They both each carried a seemingly long wooden spear and a pair of daggers right behind their backs which both serves as a weapon in taking down their prey as they slowly moved through the bushes, using the environment as their camouflage. Both males stop momentarily before looking towards each other and lightly nodded, signifying the start of their ambush.

Slowly raising their heads from the bushes with their spears up and ready, both males instantly went out and thrust their spears towards the unsuspecting boar who began to wail in pain as its body was struck with two sharp spears however, it managed to keep its strength and tried to run away from the scene in which both the two began to follow in pursuit as the younger one sprinted before the older one and grabbed its tail in order to keep on track of it.

"He's getting away!" He shouted in response.

"It's not going down after that attack... You'll have to stab its eyes out!" The older one order before trying to keep the pace and catch up to the boar but the latter has more speed in it than him and thus beginning to lose him in sight, leaving the younger one to hold unto it and tried to make its way up towards its back.

Taking out the small dagger on the back of his waist, the younger male simply tried to stab the boar in the body as it gave squeaking cries before wriggling around its body to know him out of its back. The boy persevered and never let go of his hold onto it before stabbing it yet again, thus wounding it in the process before sprinting off again.

He grunted as he slowly made his way just above its head before finally thrusting down the dagger right towards its skull until it instantly became limp and crashed right towards the ground, knocking him off and landed a few inches away from the down beast before standing up yet again to keep his guard up in the process just to make sure it's dead.

It gave slight convulsive movements for a moment until it finally stopped together with its breathing, ending its life in the process. The boy gave a loud sigh before dropping the dagger right to the ground as he landed on his butt to rest.

Eventually, the older one finally made it and made a relieved smile as he looked towards the dead creature and saw his little brother tired from the brief yet hard chase.

"That... was the hardest hunt yet..." The little one panted in exhaustion.

"Yes it is... I'm glad you're not that hurt, Natsu..." The older one replied with a faint smile before reaching out a hand to help him up.

"I'm fine... I can take care of myself, Zeref-nii... I'm turning seven in the next few days..." Six-year old Natsu beamed before looking back to the dead boar proudly. "Finally, we can have our dinner for the night!"

"If you don't watch it, you might get fat since all you've been thinking all day is about food..." Zeref joked until being glared upon by a slightly displeased Natsu.

"What's wrong with eating food? Father says that eating foods is healthy for our bodies..." Natsu reasoned.

"Not until you started to eat more often than needed." He joked yet again.

"S-Shut up... Stupid brother..." Natsu pouted since he can't seemed to find a way to defeat his big brother during a conversation. With him getting grumpy all of a sudden, Zeref could only smile warmly before patting his head for reassurance.

"Now, now... Don't be mad... I'm just joking, Natsu... Come on, let's head back to the village... Mother might become worried since we're way ahead of our usual hunting time." He turned his attention towards the dead creature before bring out a large sack to put it inside. Natsu smiled and helped his big brother with the packing and both pushed the loot back towards the village.

..

..

It didn't take a couple of minutes for them to return back to the village as they made their way towards an open field, along the dirt road while dragging the sack behind their backs. They finally saw multiple huts situated around them as people were seen standing just beside their houses, talking to their neighbors while some tended to their daily activities such as farming and other types of agricultural work.

Children also ran around the houses, playing with each other as some of them waved towards Natsu who seemed to be good friends with them since he sometimes played with them when he had the time. Passing with some people, both brother could only exchange brief waves and smiles as they went on towards their way back to their house.

A few moments later, they finally reached back to the house and eventually saw their mother outside, cleaning as usual. Natsu immediately dropped the sack as he firstly went beside her and hugged Sofia upon seeing her while Zeref simply laid the sack beside before meeting up with his two family members.

"Mother!" Natsu beamed.

"Welcome back, you two..." Sofia greeted before pausing as she averted her gaze from pink-haired toddler and into the black-haired boy. "So how's the hunt?"

"We had a difficult chase but complete nonetheless... It's just Natsu always doing reckless things as usual." Zeref reassured.

"I see... I'm glad that both of you were safe and sound... I think that's enough for our food tonight... Zeke-kun is still out in the fields so we're quite busy at the moment."

"Do you need anything else, mother?" Zeref asked.

"No... I can take care things from here. How about you and Natsu rest for awhile... You two both earned it." She smiled warmly to both of them which they also returned the favor before talking about other things aside from their hunt.

Eventually, the two brothers entered the house and settled inside to rest from the hectic day as Natsu landed right in the wooden chair while Zeref went into the kitchen and tried to cook something for the two of them.

"What do you want, Natsu?" Zeref asked from behind.

"I'm fine with soup... I always like your cooking so I don't mind anything at all." Natsu replied, only giving the black-haired boy to nod in response before starting his own cooking as Natsu patiently waited for him and played around for a moment until his brother can finally finish his cooking.

It didn't take for him that long until he passed two bowls of hot soup right across the table as Natsu simply dug in and took out a small spoon and began to enjoy his meal while Zeref paused for a moment before silently scooping. Both of them were silent as they focused onto their bowl without interruption while their mother continues to clean the outside of the house until Natsu finishes his own meal before looking towards his brother with a slightly boring look.

"Ne, can we do something fun, Zeref-nii?"

"What kind of fun?"

"I don't know... It's just boring to be resting in a time like this... I wanna play."

"Alright, what are we playing?" Zeref quirked into attention.

"You pick... You always think the best of games everytime we played together." Natsu beamed.

"Well, let's see... I think by now, I don't have anything to think of since I'm out of ideas..."

"Come on, Zeref-nii... You always think of something new..."

But before they could even start thinking up a new game to kill time, Sofia eventually went inside the house and forgot something to tell with the two after their hunt.

"Zeref-kun... Can you do an errand for me?" Said boy turned his attention towards his mother as Natsu also did the same with confusion.

"What is it?"

"Can you go to Hallmoon and buy some supplies for me? I was about to take the trip myself but Charlotte-san needed help on something." Sofia reasoned and not until Natsu raised a hand in question about her statement.

"Hallmoon?" He tilted his head in confusion. Zeref and Sofia both looked back at him for a moment until the latter also added something.

"Also, you can bring Natsu with you... I'm sure it's a great time for him to see the outside world." However, Zeref stammered in response before recomposing himself and faced his mother with slight worry.

"A-Are you sure about this, mother? I mean, Natsu has never been outside the village and he's still young."

"That's why I'm having him to tag along since you know more about the town and it's a perfect time for him to explore... After all, he's turning seven in the next few days and he'll have to learn more about the world like you do." She smiled though Natsu never seemed to quite catch up to their conversation.

"Hmm? I don't get it..." Natsu continued to feel puzzled at their conversation. On the other hand, Zeref hesitated for a moment before crossing his arms in thought as tried to think carefully about it. It took a few seconds for him to decide until he finally passed it off with a shrug before looking back to his mother with a smile.

"Alright, I guess I'll have to tag him along."

"That's great... I'm sure Natsu will like it there... Oh, and do please hurry, you two won't have enough time to wander around if you stayed a bit longer." She reminded, causing Zeref to slightly panic as he went towards his room to change.

"Yay! We're going on a trip!" Natsu beamed with a smile.

..

..

..

A couple of minutes passed as Zeref and Natsu have finally changed to their normal clothes as they slowly departed from their house and went towards the forest with the former carrying some gold necessary for the things needed to buy from their mother. Both of them carried small backpacks behind their backs filled with some things needed for their journey.

Apparently, Zeref's the only one in the family who ever ventured out far from the village and saw many beautiful towns and cities on the landscape. Unlike their village, those settlements were far more advanced and filled with many things they yet to learn. It was also the reason of why he became interested in visiting these settlements because of the new wonderful discoveries that helped him understand the world more.

One particular thing had made him interested the most... Magic.

That's right. Ever since going out far outside from the village, he discovered many places filled with magic. People like him wander around with staves and tomes which contained magic properties from within. Magic has been a fixture to mankind since the early times and has helped them to make their lives easier. Right now, you can just levitate things in the air and pull off a cup from the kitchen in just a flick of a finger. That sort of thing greatly made him more curious about the world itself.

Knowing the vastness of the world, there are tons of wonderful things that he and Natsu have yet to discover.

"So what is this Hallmoon?" Natsu began to ask as they walked towards the thick forest while following a small trail of dirt road towards their direction.

"Ah, it's a town that is near to our village... It's where we buy most of our things and foods when wee didn't get enough from our hunt."

"So it's like a market or something?"

"Well, you can say that but it's more than just a market, you know." He noted.

"How so?"

"Well, there's some food stores, shops and a magic guild that protects the town itself..."

"What is a guild?" He asked curiously.

"A guild is a place where people work together to do jobs with magic. It's also a place where you can earn money when you complete a job there."

"Magic?" Zeref could only chuckle at his curiosity.

"You'll see... Come on, we're almost outside the forest." Zeref began to jog his way out in which Natsu followed as they finally made it past to the trees and found themselves in very large area that soon stretched as far as their eyes could see.

There were many beautiful places as their eyes gazed over to the beautiful mountains in the horizon. Different landscapes were also seen as a gust of wind blew past between them, blowing their hair back as Natsu was left speechless at the beautiful place he was staring at. It was completely different from what he saw from their village. It was vast, full of plants and animals and filled with many beautiful things that he wanted to see up close as the bright sun shone above the sky towards them.

Zeref could only smile at his astonishment before continuing once more as he saw the town just before them from a distance.

"A-Amazing..." Natsu spoke in awe.

"See? Come on, there are other things I wanted to show you once we make it to the town." Zeref said in which the pink-haired toddler nodded in response as he followed his big brother behind before resuming their journey towards the town.

As they neared the town, carriages and other transportation came in and out from the town's outskirts as farmer tended to the fields while the other people wore a rather fine clothes as they entered the town and flooded the streets. Natsu widen his eyes in surprise and amazement as he saw towering buildings built out of stone which was different from the village. Shops and stores of different kind circled around on almost every corners as people went in the buy and sell stuff. Children around Natsu's age roam around and played with each other as the busy town continued throughout the day.

Then after a moment, the pinkette's eyes soon caught attention of a person who seemed to be wearing differently from the townspeople as he wore a pair of baggy pants with a brown tattered cloak to mask his body and its facial features. However, he seemed to caught a glimpse of a glowing magical orb in one of his hands as it levitated in the air and helped pushed a large block to the side in order to make way for the people who were traversing their way along that path.

He was amazed because just like of what his brother told him, magici s capable of doing things better than what a human can do and pushing a large block of stone is just an easy feat for a mage like that person.

"Magic is so cool!" Natsu squealed in delight.

"Told you... Magic can help a lot of people, you know."

"Can I become a mage?" Natsu innocently asked though his question slightly startled the black-haired boy beside him as he looked at him with a confounded surprise on his face.

"W-Well, I'm not sure if I can answer that, Natsu..." He slightly frowned in thought.

"Why?"

"Well, those people who can use magic are born with it... And many of the people here don't use magic because they were just normal simple folks... Same as us." He reasoned though after that explanation, Natsu could only put up a small sad frown on his face, knowing that he can't become one like those people.

"I see..."

"Don't feel so down about it... It's just that there are some people who were gifted to use magic at will but that doesn't mean there's no hope for people like us to become mages." It was then Natsu began to raised his head in attention back towards his brother.

"Really?"

"Of course, even without magic inside our bodies, we can become mages by using staves and other weapons embedded with magic. That way, you can become like one of those people without any magic source." He noted with a playful demeanor.

"I don't get it." Natsu tilted his head in confusion.

"I knew you would say that... ... But, I'm sure you'll understand it in the future... I always wanted you to become the mage that people will put their trust in... Believing in your friends and your family without fear and doubt. That's the kind of mage I want you to be."

"You don't want to become a mage?"

"Well, I was as some point but I'd rather study them than using them."

"That's kinda boring... I want us to be both mages..." Zeref could only chuckle in response before patting his head softly.

"Come on now... We're still young and we're already talking about the kind of people we're going to be in the future."

"But it's fun to think about it! I want you, mom and dad to feel proud!"

"And we already are... I'm already proud that I have a good-for-nothing little brother." He smiled.

"Hey!" Again, Zeref lightly laughed before patting his head yet again which irritated the little boy even more.

"I'm joking, Natsu... Let's go. We can talk about it some other time... When we grow up, I'll be supporting you always."

"Thanks, Zeref-nii! You're the best!" And with that, the two brothers simply began their way towards a store in order to buy their supplies needed for the family. Even though they were here to buy, the curiosity of the pinkette still never went down as he keeps asking more questions about the new things that he saw firsthand in many places. Zeref patiently explained them one by one and never bothered to be the guide for him whenever he's lost at something. After all, that's what big brothers are supposed to do.

With more time to spare they went in many stores and places for sightseeing as they met some people on the way and greeted them happily in which they returned the same favor despite being strangers at each other. While shopping for more supplies, Natsu eventually caught a glimpse of a small light red stuffed bear as he stared oddly into it though also catching his brother's attention as he glanced towards him while looking at the toy displayed on the store.

"Do you want it?" He began to ask as he made it beside him. Natsu flailed his arms in denial at first but ultimately giving up while trying to make an embarrassed look on his face.

"Y-Yes..."

"Fine... Come with me... Let's buy it." He smiled before taking his hand and went to the store as they simply asked for its price before taking it, much to the pinkette's delight and joy.

They also bought foods and silently ate them as they sat near the stone pavement and watch people walk right past at them as the day finally turned to afternoon.

As the sun was beginning its descent towards the west, Natsu and Zeref carried their stuff in their backpacks and started their walk back towards the exit of the town as the sky was beginning to turn dark with night slightly overtaking the scarlet sky from the east. Shops began to close and knights with torches began to patrol the streets as number of people on the streets began to diminish as the night continues to descend to the world.

"Let's go home... Mother and Father might be worried." Zeref proposed in which Natsu nodded before walking alongside him while holding the stuffed toy on his hands.

"Can we visit here again?" He asked.

"Of course... I'll have you tag along with me from now on."

"Yes!" Natsu made a proud smile on his face before making a small pumpfist.

It took about a few minutes for them to finally reach the town's gates until a large siren began to ring loudly as the townsguards scrambled from their positions and formed two lines right beside the gates with knights and mages coming from the barracks and readied their position in the walls while keeping up torches high to keep the town lit. Other remaining people began to panic as knights simply helped them to calm down and gathered all the civilians into designated shelters. After a few more seconds, the knights began to bring out large catapults and mages began bringing out their staves in ready as they made their way to garrison the entire town.

Natsu was instantly scared at the loud sirens blaring out from the tower and simply held onto his brother's clothes as Zeref inched themselves away from the scene and looked towards the town gates beginning to close.

"Zeref-nii... What's happening?"

"I don't know but no matter what you do, don't let go, okay?" His tone became serious as the knights came in groups while others went on individually to guide the other stray civilians out of the streets. Eventually, they were found by one of the knights as he went over to them with a worried look.

"What are you two doing out here? It's dangerous to walk out in a time like this? Where are you parents?" He asked with a sweating look despite being covered with full set of armor.

"W-What's happening?" Zeref asked.

"A dragon has been sighted nearby and is flying towards the town! There's been an emergency and all civilians must go to their designated shelters..." As he spoke a small magic circle came beside his ear which seemed like a communication magic from one of his colleagues and began to speak.

 _"What's the situation there? Has the dragon attacked?!"_

"No... But it's heading towards this way over the mountains... Have you contacted the Central Kingdom?"

 _"We're on it... They're sending in dragonslayers in the area to clear out the dragon... In the meantime, you'll have to hold until they arrive."_

"Yes, sire!"

Leaving his attention away from the two kids, he began to ran towards his station before advising them.

"You better clear out, you two! There's a shelter just about a block away... Stay there with the others and hide! Hurry!" He said before disappearing into a corner, leaving the two confused, especially Natsu.

"Zeref-nii... What's a dragon?" He tried to ask but he stopped as he saw the shocked look on his brother's face as he was left there standing as if something had struck him in the inside due to his unchanging surprise look before snapping out from his thought and looked back at the pinkette.

"There's no time to explain... We need to return to the village quickly!" But just as he was about to run alongside with him. They both stopped momentarily as a large gust of wind went past behind their back as they were left speechless after looking up in the sky and saw the sky immediately covered by something big, causing it to darken momentarily. It didn't take for the two realize the creature blocking out the sky above them as it gave off a menacing growl onto his large mouth. Two sets of large wings flapped through the air as it pushed down some of the people as it flies past the town, merely ignoring it as it tired to go over to the other side of the mountain before erupting into a roar that was heard through a couple of miles away, causing the people to cover their ears due to its deafening sound.

Natsu and Zeref were just crawling through the ground in shock as the roar simply staggered them before recomposing as they saw the dragon flew past right the town. Knights started to catapult while mages shot out their magic towards the dragon but they were out of reach however, the dragon never retaliated until it began to shoot out a small stream of fire towards the side of the town, instantly engulfing it flames as the knights stationed there were simply burned to death.

The heat of the blast went through the other side, almost felt by everyone in town as the people were simply staring in fear at the mighty beast in front of them.

"W-What are those things?!" Natsu cried out in horror as he tried to hide away from the destruction as he saw the fires erupting into distance.

"Keep your head down, Natsu!" Zeref moved in to cover him with his hand as another explosion took place as the dragon flew right past at them before floating in the sky again to marvel its destruction. In just two roars, the town was simply enveloped in flames as the dragon flew away yet again towards the forest, finally leaving the town in flames as the remaining people staggered from the ruins and were full of burns and large scratches from the debris. Most of them were either crushed or burned entirely from the disaster.

Pushing out a small rock away, Zeref staggered away from the debris as his face full of scratches before looking back to Natsu who was somehow protected from the debris but suffered small scratches and dirt all over his body.

"Are you alright?"

"I-I'm fine... I don't have any serious injuries... Natsu reassured before slightly settling down for a moment until he and Zeref finally saw the aftermath of the battle. They could only widen their eyes in disbelief as the town they once knew was just reduced into rubble as flames went up as high from the tall buildings, causing them to collapse before kicking up large patches of dust in the air. Other surviving people simply crawled out from the debris with multiple wounds far worse than them as healing mages came about to heal them.

However, a strong sense of fear went inside their hearts as they saw many bodies of people lying in the debris with most of them burned to death from that terrifying the dragon. Despite seeing blood so many times during their hunt, they never saw this huge scale of destruction and death before. As if the image of the town earlier was just a memory. A single dragon was able to destroy this much and no one was able to put a fight on it.

Zeref knew very little of them but he learned that they were very hostile creatures against humans and it was his first time seeing one together with Natsu. It didn't take long before they grabbed their things and tried to stagger away from the ruins until a group of knights came in to scan the area, ignoring all the civilians including them as they stared towards the horizon, seemingly trying to track where the dragon disappeared into.

"Damn it! That dragon!"

"How many casualties it caused?"

"Over a thousand, sire... The town was just... ... obliterated."

"We should've contacted the kingdom earlier... Who knew that a dragon would come in a place like this?!"

"What are we gonna do now, sire?!"

"Gather all the remaining knights and prepare to evacuate the civilians to the Central Kingdom... The Order will be coming soon. Search for any civilians who might be trapped underneath the rubble. Get the mages to focus on putting out the fires and heal the wounded people. We're abandoning Hallmoon... This place is not safe anymore." The higher-ranking knight ordered as they all scrambled to help the people from the rubble.

"What about the dragon?"

"There's nothing for us to do against that creature... Mostly likely, it's settling over to that forest to gather something... I doubt it would stay like that forever... Even if the Order arrives with their dragonslayers, the dragon might well as be gone from here."

Hearing the place of their forest, Zeref dropped his things in shock as he easily put the pieces together of where the dragon is right now. With Natsu still confused and troubled at the situation, he didn't waste anytime as he took his hand and began to ran back towards the broken gate and sprinted towards the dirt road with Natsu in tow.

"W-Where are we going, Zeref-nii?!" Natsu tried to ask but he ignored him as tears had begun to form in his eyes as he set his sights towards the forest without looking back while holding Natsu.

He didn't waste any second. He hated ignoring his brother's words but they just needed to return back as soon as possible. Although he don't want to assume things yet, he couldn't deny the fear lingering inside his heart as he tried to make his way back to his village before seeing a flaming haze over to the distance and a giant shadow looming over it.

It was then he began to fear for the worst.

"Mom! Dad!"

* * *

 **A/N: Helo guys! Here's the first chapter for you guys. Hope ya like it! It seems like it does not bode well for the two eh? Well, if you know what I mean hehe...**

 **I know some are asking about his dragonslayer magic... However, I can't answer fully to that since I wanted to keep the readers at bay of knowing the whole story because it destroys the hype sometimes. But as you can see, I have plans for them... ALL of them except Fairy Tail and its characters. Sorry for now providing enough answers but I'll reveal them soon as the story progress.**

 **That's all for now. I'll see you guys in the next chapter!**

 **\- wiErD SpeCtrumz blacking out... ... ...**


	3. The Will to Live On

**A/N: Sup guys! wiErD here... I got another chapter for you in this new fic so let's get started.**

 **First of all, everyone is thinking about how will I put Natsu to learn his dragonslayer magic. Of course, I have a plan for that and also for the appearance of the other dragonslayers who were transported to the future. Acnologia will also play a big part in this story also so rest assured, I'll have them all placed here in order but right now, we'll just have to expand the story through their years.**

 **And for the last time, I'm afraid I cannot bring in any present day FT characters in this fic except for those people who were really present in the past because it's already irrelevant to do so.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail nor its characters... All goes to Hiro Mashima.**

* * *

 **\- The Will to Live On -**

The sky above was simply dyed in crimson red as the two boys made their way through the forest and into the village. Their eyes saw nothing but fire and destruction as people ran away in fear from the lingering dragon descending from the skies and began feeding on other people who were unfortunate to be near it. Natsu and Zeref trembled in fear as they watched the dragon trample down their huts like it was nothing and released a large wave of fire around that burned everything that touches it.

Despite this, Zeref kept unto his will and pulled along his quivering brother in his hand and slowly scooted over to the destroyed buildings to hide away from the massive dragon before them. The older one peered over to the woods in order to look for his home and find their parents and get out of there as soon as they can.

Even with the arrival of the Order from the Central Kingdom, it will be late for them to flee from this monster if they stayed around here a bit longer. With the town evacuating from the area, he needed to reunite with their parents in order to escape but both of them were seemingly nowhere to be found.

"Zeref-nii... I-I wanna go home... I don't like this..." Natsu cried from his eyes as he tried to close his eyes and cover his ears from the large explosions coming from the dragon breath itself. His teddy bear is held on one of his hands while trying to protect it from catching on fire from the flames around them.

"We will go home... We just need to find mother and father and get out of here, okay? I promise you..." Zeref swore as he tried to comfort him as possible as he could before looking back again to scan the area.

"Let's go, Natsu! Don't stop!" He ordered before sprinting towards the field while holding him in his hand.

"Y-Yes!" Natsu managed to reply despite his tears and followed his brother through the bushes and hide away from the wandering dragon. They slowly watched the dragon continue to wander around as it tried to descend its snout and grab people to satisfy its thirst. Their eyes soon caught wind with multiple people being grabbed by its claws before putting them towards its mouth and slowly closed them, causing Zeref to shield his little brother's eyes away from the horrendous sight.

"Don't look!" He quickly spoke before motioning him close to his chest until Natsu made another wave of silent cries due to the horrible screams of their villagers being eaten alive.

Soon afterwards, the dragon loomed over to the other places in which Zeref immediately noticed before urging Natsu to move out once again.

It was not long before they finally reached to their houses just at the edge of the forest. They were expecting it to be still intact since it was locate at the far corner of the village but they saw it crumbled down in ruins with no one in sight.

"N-No way... I-It can't be..." Zeref knelt in despair as he saw their house burning. It was not saved from the onslaught of the dragon. Everything is just a pile of debris everywhere. What's even more worse is Natsu being able to witness all this kind of things. He was just too young to see this horrible scenes together with him.

"M-Mom! Where are you?!" Natsu tried to scream for their mother but there was no response.

"Natsu..." Zeref muttered.

"Mom!" The pinkette tried shouting again but silence and the sound of burning buildings can only be heard within their vicinity.

..

..

All seems lost for the two until a faint sound came from under the pile of debris as a familiar voice came underneath it, prompting the boys to stop for a moment to hear until they started running towards it with Zeref in the lead.

"Z-Zeref... N-Natsu..." It faintly spoke though it seems like it was seriously injured. It was too easy for them to finally realize the voice before they began digging up all the small debris away from it to locate her.

"Mom?! Mom!" Natsu cried out in relief after hearing his mother's voice.

"Help me with this, Natsu... Hurry!" Zeref pleaded before grabbing a large wooden debris with Natsu on the other side as the two brothers slowly lifted the debris away and eventually saw their mother in a battered state after being buried with huge chunks of debris above her. It was a miracle for them that she was able to survive from it but they soon widen their eyes in disbelief as they saw a small pool of blood coming out from her sides which caused Natsu to slightly back away while Zeref contain his composure before moving closer to her to check her wound.

"Your wound..." He slowly muttered until Sofia manages to reach out a hand towards his cheek with a relieved smile before looking also to Natsu.

"... T-Thank goodness... Y-You two are safe..." She weakly muttered in reassurance, seeing both of her sons safe from the onslaught.

"Nevermind that... We'll get you out of here... Come on, help me Natsu!" Zeref shouted which jolted the pinkette into attention before moving over towards the other side and grabbed his mother's arm to help her up. She wasn't unable to walk as her feet was seemingly broken due to the heavy debris that fell on top of her earlier so they had to carry her all the way towards the forest to hide from the dragon.

As the two was able to position themselves in place, they started to carry her away from from the burning house and tried to move towards the bushes. Blood still slowly gushed out from her wounds, creating a small path of blood as they paced further.

However, their presence was somehow finally noticed by the dragon as it stopped for a moment from its direction before slowly glancing over to the three with its red glowing eyes before letting out a steaming growl from its mouth and slowly redirecting his way towards them. The rumbling sound of its feet simply terrified the two of them but they still kept forward and tried to help their mother without looking back.

All they cared about is getting out alive together.

"Hurry, Natsu! Faster!" Zeref shouted.

"I'm trying!" Natsu tried to give it all with tears pouring out from his eyes as the dragon neared towards them.

But just as they continue to drag their mother towards the forest, Sofia suddenly pushed her hands out of their shoulders, thus crashing back to the ground with a faint grunt, shocking the two of them.

"I-It's no use... In this rate, it's going to catch up... " Sofia quivered in her voice before looking back towards the black-haired boy. "Zeref... Take Natsu and get out of here... It will be safer for the two of you to get to the Central Kingdom."

Hearing her proposal instantly made Zeref to snap in anger.

"What are you talking about?! We're not leaving you here! We're all going to the Central Kingdom together!"

"T-There's no time, Zeref... Please, just go and leave me here... I can't go further with this wound either... I'll be only dragging you two down!"

"I don't want to leave you here, mother!" It was then Natsu cried out in tears as he went in to hug her in which she slowly accepted before tears went out from her eyes also and began to tear.

"I-I know... I know you won't... B-But I can't come with you... not this time, Natsu."

"I don't want to... I wanna stay with you forever!" He protested but Sofia could only smile softly towards him before planting a kiss on his head before looking back to Zeref who was left standing in shock.

"Z-Zeref... Please, take Natsu with you and flee."

"B-B-But... I-" He stuttered until Sofia interrupted him with another soft reply.

"I'm leaving Natsu to you... Zeref, look after him for me, please?" Zeref hesitated for a moment until he gritted his teeth in frustration as tears went through his eyes before suddenly grabbing Natsu by the hand and began to drag him away from her mother's grasp, shocking the pinkette in the process.

"NO! I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE! LET ME GO, ZEREF-NII!" Natsu struggled to break free from his brother's hold but Zeref kept going and didn't look back as Sofia was simply left crawling on the ground while casting one last glance towards them with a faint smile before shouting from afar.

"Natsu! Zeref! Live on!" She screamed which soon heard by the two before finally disappearing from the woods, causing the wounded woman to tear up from her eyes as she covered her mouth while still looking over to the direction where her two sons disappeared into.

It was then the dragon finally approached her as it slowly growled behind her before opening its mouth as a ball of fire soon formed inside it. Sofia simply laid down on the ground with her face gazing straight to the forest with a content sad smile.

 _'I love you, Natsu, Zeref. I will always be...'_ Was the last thought she kept inside her heart before being engulfed in a sea of fire that soon erupted through the distance and into the forest where Natsu and Zeref went, causing the two of them stumble forward before looking back to the direction where the fire originated. It was then, both of them saw it, the forest behind them was simply burned in flames along with their village and their loved ones.

Without even giving the time to lament over to their loss, Zeref grabbed the silent but traumatized pinkette by the hand and continued straight towards the town with nothing to say.

There were no words exchanged in that night... There's only tears and sadness within the eyes of the two brothers who lost their family that they so preciously treasured in their whole lives.

..

..

* * *

 _ **Central Kingdom (Astarlein.)**_

The human kingdom of Astarlein is quite different from other kingdoms established all over Ishgar as it was the biggest known city to have been ever existed. Towers and tall obelisks reached through the skies with a series of small floating islands that hover in each of them around it. Below was the wide area of residential homes and other buildings for the inhabitants who lived in there.

Apparently, the kingdom is divided into two sections, the Upper City which consisted of the towering obelisks and floating islands that also served as a residential place for people with high profiles while the Lower City is mostly consisted of residential homes and shops below the Upper City. Folks and refugees from the dragon attacks mostly reside there which also gives a prominent gap between the people living in above and to the people living in below.

In addition, the unfair treatment of the rich towards the poor isn't uncommon since this was never even taken to great importance. After all, there are much more bigger threats than solving the kingdom's society issues.

Dragon attacks and invasions are the more dangerous type of threats that happens to most of the other kingdoms since humans were partially at war with them. The history came about that mankind never really volunteered to take part in it. Rather, they were dragged along with it since the dragons were engaging an all-out civil war amongst them with one side wishing for the coexistence with the humans with the other opposing its notion.

While there are some dragons siding with the humans, the numbers of the opposing dragons are far more bigger than the ones who wished for coexistence. As a result, both mankind and their dragon pacifiers were on the brink of losing the battle if not for the secret experiment that soon gave humans the capability of fighting alongside with their dragon masters.

Yes, the birth of the dragonslayers...

The Central Kingdom is protected by these ancient warriors who pledged themselves in the teachings of the dragons and were taught anti-dragon magic. With the new human warriors ready to fight, the war has finally shifted once again and the intensity between two sides gradually became larger as both sides suffered many casualties, especially to the opposing side.

However, in this current time, the war is far from over and the threats of dragon attacks on rural human settlements were often witnessed by many people. It was a tactic devised by the opposing dragons to lower the human morale along with its people.

Despite the advantage of the humans over them, the level of casualties are insanely high and the number of refugees feeling to the kingdoms have also increased.

Multiple carriages that were sent to evacuate the survivors of the town together with the escort of the remaining knights soon made their way towards the castle gates. It took only a moment for the guards to finally let them through as they saw many civilians in the carts heavily injured and some having some serious burns from the fire. Behind the convoy was the army that was sent to defeat the dragon together with several unnamed dragonslayers who were tasked to bring it down once they get there.

Unfortunately, the dragon already fled from the battle before they could even arrive and was left to guide the surviving people back to the kingdom for refuge.

Zeref and Natsu simply sat together in one of the carts as the latter had seemingly slept during the journey either by sleepiness and his painful experience for witnessing their mother's death. Zeref was the only one awake for him and could somehow understand what his little brother is feeling right now. However, he was in no point of reaching a hand for him since they both lost their parents that night.

The pinkette faintly drifted in his sleep with his head simply leaned over to his shoulder with an innocent face which for some reason earned the black-haired boy to slightly smile at him before returning his sad frown as he looked over his surroundings and saw a couple of people beside them wearing a rather despaired look on their faces, seeing that they were just as shocked as them.

Soon afterwards, the carriages stopped as the army soon took over the scene and guided the refugees to an open area where healing mages were located and started healing the wounded ones first. Zeref urged his little brother awake, prompting him to open his eyes for a moment before slowly realizing the situation.

"Alright, step out from the carriages, if there's anyone who suffered with serious wounds, please guide them first to the medical mages as soon as possible. Relief goods will be distributed from the other healthy people so come forward and will set you all straight up...!" One of the captain of the knights shouted in his horse in which everyone silently obeyed as Zeref and Natsu walked amongst the crowd and started lining up to get their goods.

Zeref simply waited alongside with the pinkette who on the other hand, shook his head with a dull expression plastered on his face. Zeref wanted to help him clear everything out but even he could not have the strength nor the courage to do so since it might probably make it even worse for the two of them.

Putting his hand beside his shoulder, Zeref crouched down to match his height while giving him a faint reassuring look.

"Are you alright, Natsu?"

At first, there was no reply since Natsu never even bothered to move his head just after being asked by him. Moments later, he slowly lifted his head while retaining his sullen expression.

"Yeah..." He sounded very lost but Zeref insisted on continuing their conversation.

"Are you hurt by any chance?"

A light disapproving nod son followed.

"I see..." Zeref doesn't have anything to come up with another topic to keep his conversation with him going any further.

Just as about they're about to finish, a forceful shove was felt by the pinkette as he instantly staggered sideways away from the line and crashed into a dirt pile, shocking Zeref in the process before looking up towards a group of males smirking right underneath their breaths.

"Hey, what is your problem?!" Zeref asked in anger despite being little against the males before him.

"Watch it, kid! You have to fall in line if you want your relief goods claimed." One of them reasoned while trying to hold off a laugh that might soon broke after.

"WE were falling in line! You just shoved my brother!" He protested.

"Oh, I'm sorry... I thought you two were just loitering so we thought that you were not part of the refugees..." One of them made a teasing yet irritating remark towards the black-haired kid who in turn, simply gritted his teeth in anger, seeing the people in front of him are just cheating to get in line first.

"... Where are your parents? Don't tell they were eaten by that dragon a few days ago, didn't it?" It was then Zeref finally snapped. Without any warning, he simply lunged himself towards the man with anger before trying to give him punch towards the stomach.

"WHY YOU-" Unfortunately, he was easily stopped by the other males beside him who grabbed both his hands and lifted him while being laughed upon by the others.

"Whoa, you got some nerve trying to punch an older guy, ain't you? Did your mother taught you good manners?" One of the males mocked.

"You bastard!"

"Ho! He even swears... Looks like you were raised horribly... Well, I guess we should teach him a thing or two on how to respect on their elders." The one isn't holding the boy in the arms simply balled up his fist before thrusting it towards his stomach, causing him to rattle from the inside as a searing pain went through his body before spewing out saliva due to uncontrolled spasms.

Falling down on his knees, Zeref clutched his stomach in pain with hands as he coughed continuously from taking a heavy blow from it. Despite being a kid, he was still able to recompose himself while slowly looking up towards the three males with anger before one of them kicked him hard towards the face, causing him to fly and crash straight towards a dirt pile near Natsu.

"If you want to fall in line, do it properly, rascal!" Another group of chuckles went on the three as they continued their turn in getting their goods, leaving the two battered kids alone in the dirt.

Natsu was the first one to be able to stand up after that shove and simply looked towards his down brother with a worried look. His face was slightly bloodied on the right side with a small tear threatening to come out from his bruised right eye.

"Z-Zeref-nii..." Natsu muttered silently in worry.

"D-Don't worry... ... I won't cry... I will not cry. After all, I made a promise to our mother... I will look after you." He tried to force a faint smile despite his injuries until he was being helped by the pinkette as he suddenly grabbed his right hand and placed it on his shoulder before helping him walk again back to the starting line.

"Okay... But don't just put the pain all to yourself... Shoulder me half it... After all, we're brothers." It was the first time he'd ever smile since that day. Zeref could only widen his eyes in realization before slowly tearing up and went alongside with him as they resumed their journey together.

"Yeah..."

..

..

A couple of hours has passed and the distribution of relief goods was finally handed out to the last refugee as the army simply returned back to the capital before leaving a handful of guards to supervise the refugees who were still having their own problem at hand aside from food. Natsu and Zeref silently ate in the corner as they watched all the other refugees wander back and forth, worrying about their own families and problems.

It pretty quite out of place for them since they were the only remaining family members with no one to rely into but themselves.

Soon afterwards, one of the knights began to call attention towards the refugees as he was being accompanied by a couple of mages behind before stopping above a platform that soon caught the attention of the refugees.

"My fellow humans... The kingdom would like to give their deepest condolences and apologies towards the ones who suffered greatly in the dragon attack on Hallmoon... We were caught by surprise at the appearance of a dragon in your land since we were holding all of them back towards the front lines. And I know that the circle of retaliation against them would be imminent soon."

"... However, it won't be too long until another dragon tries to repeat the same tragedy as this. The kingdom will provide you shelter and safety in these times of need but will you let yourself live in fear against these abominations or try to fight against them in order to save humanity from annihilation?" A couple of murmurs swept through the crowd as the knight paused his speech before continuing.

"... On the other hand, if you're not willing to join the army, the kingdom will still let you into the kingdom and work for them. However, due to the overpopulation of the Lower City, we will be choosing people to be settled outside the kingdom, especially to the ones who refused to join the army."

As soon as he said that, multiple uproars erupted from the crowd as people shouted out in anger at the decisions laid out to them.

"What the hell is that?!"

"Are you trying to get us all killed by those things again?!"

"These people are just as evil as those dragons! They don't care about us normal folks!"

Just as the commotion was about to rise, a couple of complaining refugees were blown out through the air as one of the mages simply lifted one of his hands and caused a water geyser below them which caused everyone to panic, including Natsu and Zeref who were hiding amongst the crowd. It was not until all of them became finally silent as the knights stood firm from their positions together with the mages who took measures in quelling the uproar.

"Don't mistake us... We will still safeguard you all in the established settlements outside the kingdom but I guess one of my subordinates have shown you all the power the will be the weapon against the dragons... In the army, there's the Order which consisted of special warriors that are gifted with the power to slay the dragons... And that is, Dragonslaying Magic."

A couple of gasp went through the group as Natsu and Zeref quirked into attention about the said weapon against the dragons.

"Of course, these gifts are handed to those who excel above the normal ranks of the army. If you joined and somehow managed to get a name for yourself, you will be given one of these powers and gain the opportunity in joining the Order as well... That is all that I can say to you all for the moment. If your answer is neither on joining the ranks then that is your choice, you'll be sent to the Lower City and work for your own living there..." And with that the knight finished before being escorted by the dragonslayer mages beside him and disappeared into distance.

Natsu and Zeref simply went quiet as the group began to converse to each other about the proposal given to them.

"Are you... joining the army, Zeref-nii?" It was then Natsu asked beside him with a slight worry, seeing that his brother is still pondering about it for quite some time now.

Glancing back to the pinkette, Zeref simply smiled towards him before placing a small pat onto his head.

"I won't... If I join the army, I won't be able to look after you... That's the one thing I will put first before anything else."

"But... if you go then you would be even more stronger and protect not just me but everyone..." He reasoned.

"Why would you insist me to go? Don't you want me by your side?"

"I want to but... I just think that it would be best for you to go rather than me since I'm weak..." Before Natsu could even finish, he was held firmly by his shoulders as Zeref placed his hands unto it and looked at him dead in the eye.

"You're not weak, Natsu... Don't say that! Didn't you say you want to become a mage someday... That you would protect everyone?"

"But I have nothing... I'm just me..." His voice cracked as tears are starting to well up from his eyes once more.

"You're more than that, Natsu... I believe in you! Even mother and father believed in you and so will I. Even without any magic power, you still got your heart. Your courage and your strength will the ones who will guide you and make you stronger, I promise you that, okay? So I don't want to hear anything that would say bad things about you, understand?" He clarified.

"O-Okay..." Natsu nodded and not long before Zeref softened his gaze before patting his head once more.

"Don't worry... No matter what happens, I'll be right beside you..." He spoke as they both hugged each other until he whispered something into his ear.

"... Right now, let's try to live on like what mother said, okay?"

"Yeah!"

* * *

 **A/N: And that's a wrap... Chapter 2 is done. Hope ya like it! It seems like Zeref and Natsu aren't exactly joining just yet, considering their current age. Well, you can't expect two little boys to join in the armies just like that. I mean, it's complicated so I'll just have to pin them to work in the Lower City in which they would eventually grow in time.**

 **Here's some slight wikis on the story itself,**

 **1\. Astarlein - Known as the Central Kingdom. It's the biggest known kingdoms established in Ishgar by the humans together with the allegiance of the dragon pacifiers. It was divided into two sections; the Upper City and the Lower City. The Upper City is consisted of the tall obelisks and towers that reached through the skies while being surrounded by masses of floating islands which serves as both the residence of the people living there. Rich people, knights, dragonslayers, nobles and the King reside there. The Lower City consisted of buildings below the obelisks where it was mostly inhabited by poor people, normal folks and refugees that fled from their homes from the dragon attacks.**

 **2\. Sofia - mother of Natsu and Zeref. She was also gentle and kind-hearted mother who values over her sons the most. Married to Zeke which soon gave birth to the two brothers who became close together. Died on the night whereas the dragon mysteriously appeared from their lands and started killing everything.**

 **3\. Zeke - father of Natsu and Zeref. A hardy farmer with a full blown energetic behavior that soon married to Sofia that gave birth to his two sons. Died on the night whereas the dragon myteriously appeared from their lands and started killing everything.**

 **4\. The Order - a special division from the army that consisted of chosen people from the army and gifted with Dragonslaying magic. Apparently, they are the ones sent out from the Central Kingdoms to protect other settlements from the dragon attacks.**

 **5\. Hallmoon - a small town situated near Natsu and Zeref's village. It was attacked by a dragon and left it in ruins which soon caused the two brothers along with the other survivors to flee into the Central Kingdom for refuge.**

 **That's all for now in the chapter, see you all again next time.**

 **\- wiErD SpeCtrumz blacking out... ... ...**


	4. Constant Troubles

**A/N: Sup guys... wiErD here... Here's another chapter for you all since I felt motivated to write it.**

 **Hope ya like it.**

 **Forgot to remind you all about the current age of Zeref and Natsu... They are 10 and 7 respectively with the latter recently having his own birthday right after the attack on their village.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own FT or anything related to its elements. All goes to Hiro Mashima. Support the official manga series.**

* * *

 **\- Constant Troubles -**

 _ **Astarlein... July 14, X287**_

It's been a month since the attack on Hallmoon and the refugees have settled over to a designated part of the Lower City where everyone is granted with small homes and houses to live. Only a handful joined the army, leaving all the others behind and simply pledged to the kingdom and started to work for their own living. However, some of the people were not entirely granted homes and other sorts of shelter within the kingdom, especially to the abandoned kids and disabled persons.

The kingdom had no time in dealing with the refugees since their main focus was at the war against the dragons and that the people living down on the Lower City holds little of value for their advantage. They'd rather have them deal of what they necessarily provided for them and move on.

Zeref and Natsu had been one of those kids left down on the streets as they sat on the far corner of the streets, watching people walking past right through them with dull expressions on their faces. The atmosphere in the Lower City is somehow very similar like this since the people here were mostly the neglected and the powerless unlike from those people who live in the Upper City.

Despite their poor living conditions, the two brothers were able to live through hardship for a month and with a bit of luck on their side, Zeref was taken on a job of a magical factory that crafts staves and other magical weapons which is regularly brought up towards the Upper City and to be used by the armies to battle out dragons though Zeref knew that it would take a dragonslayer to slay one.

Thanks to his newfound job, he did earn some jewels for their food to keep them alive for the time being. Natsu never actually cared about the shelter, all he wanted is to live it through and try to change himself for the better.

He wanted to fulfill her mother's last words and he needs to start by not crying anymore. At first, Zeref was quite worried about his brother's sudden change but after explaining to him of the reason, he had no alms to deny it.

While still holding on to the stuffed toy he got from his big brother back at Hallmoon, Natsu simply stood at the side entrance of the factory where his brother was working. The sun was just about to set and the people were returning back to their temporary homes, leaving only a thin crowd of people walking on the streets. He waited for another couple of minutes until Zeref finally came out from the entrance and saw him leaning over to the wall beside it.

Flashing a smile towards his brother, Zeref spoke out in glee, "Natsu...!"

"Zeref-nii!"

"Thank you for waiting... I got all the money we need to spend the night."

"Cool... Then we get to sleep on the lodge again?" Natsu quirked in curiosity.

"Well, as long as Alice-san reserves us a room... You know how many would want to take a room for the night..." Zeref deadpanned.

"Oh yeah... I forgot about that... So about our food." It was then Zeref sighed upon noticing the flow of their conversation once again fell to the topic of food.

"You seriously need to do something about that stomach of yours..."

"I can't help it... It growls if I don't eat in the next 30 minutes..." The pinkette whined although Zeref would know that he was just trying to convince him to buy more food. Despite this, only a faint smile went through his lips and simply patted the pinkette on the head.

"Alright, more food it is..." He sighed.

"YAY! I'm so getting all those delicious food tonight!"

"Yeah yeah... And you probably will get fat in no time." Zeref joked.

"Hey! By the way, have you learn anything for today?" It was then Natsu tried to ask him about his job.

Of course, over the days he spent working on the factory, Zeref eventually grew some knowledge about magic and how they were being embedded through weapons. Well, he would probably prefer to the true nature of magic rather than knowing about how it's used on weapons. Due to this, he eventually learned its properties, its different kinds and many more.

With each passing day, he got something out of it just from observing from the other workers while tending on his own. His mind was able to grasp so many information at once in which he still does everyday and every time he finishes his job for today, he would tell them all to the pinkette as if he was telling him a story.

"Well, there's this magic weapon embedded with water magic so I tried to taking a look at it... It's originally called, Aqua Magic. It's a magic that lets you control water liquids in just by the flick of a finger. It's a common magic so it's probably been used by other mages from above."

"Are there any other rare magics?"

"Well, I can't say for sure... So far, I haven't seen any weapon embedded with rare magic." Zeref began to ponder.

"Why is that so?"

"Because it's rare... which means is that it's not commonly used by any mages that's why they don't want to just put on some rusty weapon... Instead, they just placed it for the people who had the potential of wielding it."

"Aaaaah... So what about dragonslayers?" Turning into another topic, Zeref once again pondered about it before looking back at him.

"Oh yes, it is also a rare type of magic but it's now been used commonly by the Order in order to fight against the dragons." Zeref noted.

"Where does it come from?" Natsu asked but Zeref could only think carefully for a moment since the answer will most likely to change the pinkette's behavior if he said it so bluntly in front of him. But knowing his curious nature, he had to say it.

"Well, it actually comes from the dragons also... They bestowed the gift to the ones worthy of wielding and train to become one like them."

"Dragons, huh?" Natsu muttered silently as he immediately tightened his hold on his stuffed toy before staring oddly into open space which was soon noticed by the black-haired brother as he looked at him in worry. Their flow of conversation was ended right after mentioning the name of the creature and at a moment later, they finally made it to the building they were supposed to stay and eat for the night. At the same time, Natsu's expression grew bright, instantly forgetting the gloomy thought that was once inside his head just awhile ago, much to Zeref's relief.

Although it's been already a month, Natsu still couldn't forget the trauma he experienced during that day.

..

..

..

Opening the doors before them, the two brothers eventually made inside before noticing a couple of workers together with a mix of refugees drinking and laughing on their seats located in tables just around the room. The air reeks of alcohol and sweat as they scooted past right at the crowd until they finally got face to face with Alice who was cleaning one of the mugs just right in front of the counter.

She was a 17 year-old teenager with silky white hair that runs down just at her back with two slightly curled bangs rested in front of her shoulders. She seems to be wearing a worn-out waitress outfit but despite her outfit, her features resembles that of a beautiful young woman with her fair skin and her brown hazel eyes that would make any man fall in an instant.

A small faint smile crept its way towards her lips as she noticed the two brothers coming into view from the counter. Apparently, Alice had quite known of Natsu and Zeref for some time since they always come around at night to rest and spend the night here. Eventually, she established a good relationship between them, acting as a big sister for the two of them whenever they feel troubled by something. She was also quite aware of the loss of their mother but can also relate to them, seeing that their parents also died on a dragon attack and had been a refugee in some other town.

Thanks to some friends, she was able to hold a building on her own and turned it into a tavern with spare rooms for the guests to stay the night in which she also owns it.

"Good evening, Zeref, Natsu... How's your day?" Alice soon began to ask.

"We're good... We want a room as usual..." Zeref nonchalantly replied.

"Coming right up... Here's the key to your room upstairs.. Anything else?"

"Well, Natsu is the one who had something to order besides a room." He then turned over to the pinkette who was peering over to the counter with expectant eyes.

"Oh, I see... I suppose we go with the usual then..." Alice smiled before looking back at Natsu with a faint smile.

"Thanks, Alice-nee...!"

"You're welcome..."

"I better get going... I just need some things needed to be done... Can I leave Natsu in your care for a moment, Alice-san?" Zeref began to turn his direction towards upstairs before looking back at the counter where the two were situated.

"Of course, I'll have him accompanied... Dinner will be served soon... Be sure to come down and eat, okay?" Alice reminded, prompting the 10 year old kid to nod in response before resuming his way upstairs.

Going past over the silent hallway, Zeref grabbed hold of the key and opened one of the doors at the far corner of the building. A faint creaking sound was soon heard by him as he slowly pushed it open, revealing a darkened room before moving inside and took a small lamp at one of the nightstand and lit it. Placing it on a table situated beside the door, Zeref sat down beside the chair and started pulling out some papers from his backpack and began studying it.

The papers were written with studies from his observation during his work, especially to magic. Unlike Natsu, Zeref never had the spirit to become a mage. Rather, he would just like to study them and know more about them in order to learn its uses and properties.

Although it may sound lame, Zeref knew that this was the kind of future he was hoping to be. His intellectual mind and keen observation towards things are above that of a normal kid even back at their village. He was probably one of the smartest kids back then but ever since living in the Central Kingdom with so many things to learn, he immediately realized just how small his knowledge can be compared to the world.

He still had hopes for Natsu since he possesses a good heart and an undying will and courage on his own. Even without having any magical power inside his body, he believes that he can excel in the use of magic for a good purpose. All he needs is support and reassurance.

As he skimmed throughout the pages, Zeref silently read all of the information and knowledge he gathered without reminding himself of the time spent on it. After a few hours of reading, Natsu eventually made his way through the room and called out his brother to come downstairs.

"Zeref-nii... Dinner's ready! Alice-nee is calling you downstairs."

"Ah, I'll be right down..." Zeref took the papers inside the drawer before following the pinkette as they went downstairs and ate alongside with Alice who had her break from the job for now.

The three ate happily in a nearby table as Natsu openly talks about the stories that Zeref would always tell to him, mush to the other two's delight. Having to talk peacefully without any gloomy face is such a relief for Zeref at least. The three of them had something in common. Both of them lost their parents in the fire and had their own shares of despair and sorrow during that time. It was natural for them to band together to comfort each other and bury that sadness along with their tears.

Despite that comfort, Zeref knew that Natsu would forever engrave that sadness in his heart and eventually turn it into anger against the ones who made them suffer.

..

..

After eating, both the two brothers made their way towards their room as Natsu changed into his nightclothes together with Zeref who on the other hand, resumed his studies on the desk with a small lamp lit beside him. The pinkette was innocently playing with the stuffed toy before looking towards the black-haired kid with curiosity.

"Are you still reading them all over again?"

"Well, I have to if I wanted to understand more about magic... If you wanted to become a mage, you should at least understand what magic is, right?" Zeref inquired but only a irritating whine came after his reply.

"That's so boring! Reading is dumb... Anyone could just get the magic and learn them by experience, right?"

"Okay... Then how about I give you an example, Let's say you are a mage with a unknown magic bestowed onto you. It's called Fire Magic. Tell about the procedures on how to create a simple spell of casting a small ember on your index finger. After that, would you know about the things needed to learn about the magical circle when casted upon the user because if you don't, the spell would wreck your body. What sort of magical power needed to pour on a specific spell? If you pour to much magic on it, the spell would explode and kill you in the process... Still catching up? Okay, let's continue, did you know that there are different types of hand gestures needed to perform a spell? For example..." Before it could even escalate, Natsu simply raised his hands to stop.

"Alright, alright! I don't get it at all!" He conceded defeat.

"See? Even as a potential mage, you need to learn the basics..." Zeref reminded though slightly showing a little bit of pride on his part.

"S-Stupid brother..." Natsu pouted in irritation.

"Don't worry... You'll get there, plus you still have me, right? If there's something that you don't know, just ask me, okay?" Zeref reassured him with a smile, prompting him to smile back in glee as Natsu jumped out in joy before hugging his brother.

"Thanks, Zeref-nii!"

"Okay, but you better sleep soon, we still have a busy day tomorrow."

"Sure thing!"

And with that, Natsu bade good night towards him before lying down towards the side of the bed with his stuffed toy in hand before silently drifting into sleep, leaving the black-haired older brother the only one awake as he sighed in relief before turning his attention back towards the paper and started reading once more.

There's still some things needed to be done for tomorrow and everyday is just restless for the two of them. Even so, they didn't care about it. As long as they continue to live on, there's nothing for them to worry about.

* * *

 _ **The next day...**_

"Hurry up with those weapons, kid! The knights would be here any time soon. Make sure all of them were made sharp clean. I don't want any one of them look brittle, got that!" One of the older males shouted from the entrance towards Zeref who was busy forging all the weapons needed for the shipment today. Apparently, today is the day where the army would come down to the Lower City to gather all the weapons made by the people here to reinforce the army. It will be a matter of time, until the knights made their arrival.

Putting all the hot forged weapons on a metal cart, Zeref heavily pushed it along the way towards the other carts just beside the entrance as the other workers finished their duties and stood right behind the manager. With being the last one to finish, Zeref wiped a bead of sweat from his head before sprinting towards his station and changed his dirty clothes into a new one before going back to line up with the other workers.

All of them stood rigidly in front of the owner as he slowly paced back and forth before beginning his speech.

"Alright, listen up! I'm sure this is the first time for some of you to witness a run like this... Apparently, the knights of the Upper City will go down here and collect some weapons that we made everyday in order to strengthen their attack force in protecting the city from the dragons. I'm pretty sure, everyone of you knows what a dragon is capable of and one alone is enough to destroy a town or city for that matter however, this is the Central Kingdom, the strongest kingdom in all of Ishgar. As long as we work to help the army, we won't have any problems with those giant bastards, got it?!"

"YES!"

"Another thing, I'm also reminding everyone of you to stay silent and let me do the talking... The knights here are pretty... ... ... well let's say rough on normal folks like us. Like me, you all don't have protection against this higher ups and if you don't want to get beaten or imprisoned, keep your mouths shut and do as I say."

"YES!"

..

..

A few minutes later, the knights soon arrived at the factory, wearing steel-clad armors with spears and swords rested on their hilts as they made their way inside with the workers who were standing firmly from the side before the owner who greeted the army.

"Greetings, Captain Tellus... The weapons you wanted for the army made its scheduled time." At first the captain didn't speak before silently scanning the factory and saw its poor environment, much to his disappointment and disgust.

"Tell me, Arthur... When will you have the time in cleaning this pile of dirt?" He hissed but Arthur remained firm despite his comments and decided to change the topic in order keep their conversation back on track.

"Sir, the weapons needed for your expedition are made and ready... You should have no more problems about dragons... With your strategic mind, I'm sure you'll put the weapons to good use."

Although it was faint but Arthur was sure to hear the captain mumbling something underneath his breath.

"They're pretty useless anyway." He muttered. After a few more moments he disembarked his horse and scanned the weapons lined up in the crates, checking the embedded process made into it. Staves, rods, swords, and spears were seen in every crate but Tellus was not that pleased.

"These weapons aren't enough, Arthur... We need more for the second army division... How are they suppose to fight a dragon with just their bare hands, huh?" He spat.

"But Captain... I was never informed of any notice about making weapons for the second army-

"AAAH! This is why I can't stand people like you here in the Lower City... We give you food, shelter and protection but you couldn't even provide us with the right amount of things that we needed in return for your protection!"

"But Captain we're just-" Then again, Arthur wasn't given the chance to even speak for himself as Tellus kicked the crate in anger as the weapons cluttered loudly from the pavement as a few bystanders turned to look at the scene with most of them staying quite as distance away from the knights since they knew of their unforgiving nature towards simple folk like them.

Natsu was one among them as he stood out along with the people from the vicinity, looking worried over to his brother who was one of the people lined up in the factory together with their boss. And it seems like they're being criticized for some reason.

Zeref on the other hand, simply stayed silent as his expression is mostly blank at the situation but his clenching fists tells that he was getting impatient and somewhat angry towards the knight before them. Others were just fearful of what might happen since Tellus was showing off his dissatisfaction towards them as well.

"What can you say about yourselves? Do you think you're all free here to stay for anytime you want to? You all have to work hard for us if you want to stay protected in this kingdom otherwise, hit the road." He continue to show his anger towards them until Zeref can't finally take it anymore and decided to intervene.

"What you are doing sir is an offense towards the citizen here." After uttering those words, Tellus shifted his gaze upon the black-haired kid who stood right in front of the group as the others simply widened their eyes in disbelief. Arthur eventually noticed his actions and decided to intervene as well, hoping to quell down the tense atmosphere between them and the knights.

"Sorry about that Captain... Some of these new workers are bit jumpy at most times... Would you please look the other way for this lad?"

"Arthur... What's this kid's name?"

"Eh?"

"I'm telling you what is that kid's name!" He screamed, reminding him to repeat for the third time. Arthur winced on the inside as he looked worriedly at the black-haired kid before finally surrendering and complied as well.

"Zeref... Zeref Dragneel, captain... He's a good kid... He had his way of knowing things about magic despite being a refugee. He's an intelligent one."

"Hoh... If that's the case, then I should give him some questions for him to answer..." He paused before leaning closer towards him with a wicked grin on his face while Zeref simply stood in defiance at his expression and didn't fear him at the very least.

"... You look like a blabbermouth, aren't you? Tell me boy... Do you anything about what's happening outside the kingdom? I'm sure you didn't since you lived here along with these people taking precious air and space...

Do you know who I really am? If you knew you're position, better shut up and sit back together with your friends or I'll make sure you'll rot in prison for committing a crime against a captain knight."

..

..

It was not long until Zeref spoke for himself.

"All of your claims are invalid... First, I didn't commit any crime to offend you or anything. I simply told the error of your ways since it doesn't hold anything tolerable to the law. There are many witnesses here to prove your abuses towards the people and your actions towards Arthur is not excusable in the Sacred Law of the kingdom... Second, I know very well about the outside world. I've been there and I've seen the horrors of the dragons before as I have been a survivor..." He paused.

"...You think that's because we're all weak and poor doesn't mean that we're not as equal as you... We're still human beings, breathing the same air and sharing the same life as you were. People like you in the Upper City think too lowly for the people down here in the Lower City and you abused your rights on us by pitting out the things that you are tasked to do such as now." His speech somehow caught the attention of the other knights and the other people who were listening as well.

"Let me ask you this, mister... If we were never here in the first place... Can this kingdom ever survive on its own people alone?"

There was a complete silence between them as the others have started murmuring while the others were simply stunned at the boy just now. Everyone was taking heed of every bit of his words until-

 **SMACK***

With a loud noise, Tellus backhanded Zeref right in the face as his metal-plated gauntlets connected right on his cheek, causing him to land roughly on the ground as everyone took a bit of surprise and shock at the captain's actions.

"You don't talk shit about this kingdom, you scum... I should have you imprisoned for verbal insults towards our Kingdom... You should be glad to have stepped on this soil of ours otherwise, I would've cut those legs of yours by now." Tellus threatened as he raised a sword from his hilt and pointed it towards the cringing boy in front of him.

"This boy will be charged with a crime against the kingdom... Anyone who rejects the charge will be met with strong opposition, you got that?!" He turned over the knights and the people behind him who could only stay silent at the scene, seeing that they can't do anything towards the situation.

Placing his sword back, he turned to grabbed Zeref by his hair and tried to drag him away to put him in prison until a small rock hit his head unexpectedly as he stumbled for a moment and eventually turned around to see Natsu standing up alone with another rock on his arm. His expression were slightly teary but the attitude was a full-bent anger towards the captain as if he was trying to challenge him.

"Let go of my brother, you shithead!" Natsu shouted.

"Why you little runt-" Another rock was thrown on him but he was able to raise his hands in defense and tried to grab the pinkette in which Zeref could only widen his eyes in horror as he tried to raise his sword against him.

"I'll kill you, you little midget!"

..

..

"THAT'S FAR ENOUGH, TELLUS!" A feminine voice resounded from one of the knights as a figure went in front of the group and walked towards the angered captain and stopped him mid-way on his murderous intent towards the pink-haired toddler.

She was a female knight, dressed the same as the other knights though with a different rank as her armor differs that of a normal knight. She had a long light blonde hair that reaches far down on her back as it gracefully swayed in the process. She seemed to be aged around 20 or so as her face resembled that of a beautiful woman adorned with her blue eyes. A wing-like circlet is seen on her head as she lowered down Tellus's sword and took it away in order to calm him down.

"You have caused a lot of scene here today, Captain Tellus... I think it's high-time that you should stop abusing the people here especially to kids." Her voice sounded melodic but firm at the same time.

"B-But these little runts are spouting nonsense about the kingdom! They should be faced with punish-

"Didn't I tell you? You have caused way too much scene here with your division. If the Order happens to know of your little rage here, I doubt that you could stay in your position as captain... These kids have witted their way out of yours. You should back away now."

"Tch..." There was click in his tongue as he simply grabbed back his sword from her and walked away from the scene and returned back to his horse.

"Another week for the deadline of the weapons' distribution... This time, better make it on the right time, Arthur." He turned towards the manager of the factory who only nodded in response before looking back at the two kids.

"You got lucky this time, you brats... Make sure you don't show up on that day or I wouldn't be so lenient." He warned before he took off along with the knights as the female knight stayed around for a moment and helped Zeref back on his feet.

Natsu eventually approached them as well as the crowd dispersed yet again to continue their work for the day.

"I'm apologize for my captain's rude behavior... I commend you for your bravery... Not anyone would have the same courage to stand up to that man, a kid no less." She praised as Zeref simply flashed a light smile before turning his attention towards the pinkette to see if he's alright.

"Thanks... Not many people would help kids like us though..." He replied.

"Zeref isn't it?" She asked for his name.

"Yeah..."

"And the other one?"

"Natsu Dragneel... He's my little brother." He replied.

"Where are your parents? Shouldn't they be looking around you by now?"

"Our parents died a month ago. They were killed in a dragon attack." Zeref spoke with a monotone as his expression turned somber for a moment before slowly getting dusting himself to push the dirt on his clothes before helping Natsu in the process. Of course, the female knight somehow gave a light gasp towards his reply but she softened her gaze afterwards before changing the topic.

"Are you guys alone out here without anyone taking care of you?"

"Well, Alice takes good care to us since she lent us a room by night to sleep there... Other than that, we have none... We only have ourselves." Zeref spoke.

"I see..." She pondered.

"I didn't catch your name by the way..." Zeref asked for the knight's name as Natsu inched right behind him.

"Oh, I haven't introduced myself... I'm Reina... Vice-captain of the army division you just saw just now."

"Vice-captain?" Natsu turned to speak for the unusual word just now.

"I'm also one of the people on the Order... But I've just been assign to supervise this army division."

"Order? I kinda heard that name before." Zeref and Natsu pondered in thought.

"That's right... The only special division in the army gifted with rare magics." Hearing that, the two brothers eventually realized of what she truly is.

"Wait- Then that means..."

"Yup... I'm a dragonslayer."

* * *

 **A/N: And that's the wrap. How's the chapter? Is it good or bad? Tell me about your opinions in the reviews. Now we're off with two OCs... The first one would be Alice... I kinda depicted her to be like Mirajane who's a loving person towards them. Second, is Reina. I wanted her to play as a motherly-role for the two as part of the development and her affiliation will certainly bring up the plot-bridge for Natsu to attain dragonslaying magic from Igneel.**

 **Zeref should be some scholar protege since I wanted to keep his collected and genius mind under good pretexts, aside from his evil nature in the canon.**

 **Also, the next chapter would feature some characters from FT of course, I think you guessed who would it be... Well, that would be on the next chapter. Thank you guys for your support and opinions on this story. I really appreciate it!**

 **See you guys on the next chap!**

 **\- wiErD SpeCtrumz blacking out... ... ...**


	5. A Place to Stay

**A/N: Sup guys! wiErD here and I got another chapter for you guys.**

 **Hope ya like it.**

 **Disclaimer: Hiro Mashima owns the whole franchise. Support the official release.**

* * *

 **\- A Place to Stay -**

Natsu and Zeref were both confused as of right now since they were given a proposal from Reina for a permanent place to stay. Of course, the two agreed in response but they never asked any more questions about this new home of theirs. Zeref only accepted the offer since it would save them a lot of money if there was a home for them to stay permanently.

They could always come around back to Alice if they had the time too. It's not like they're saying goodbye now or anything. They just had found a place for them to finally settle on their own without her help. Plus, the new home that Reina was talking about isn't that far from where Zeref was actually working as they simply walked around town looking for something.

Thankfully, Arthur gave Zeref a day off in order to for him to settle down for a bit after his little scene towards Tellus earlier.

"Where are we going exactly?" It was then Natsu couldn't take it anymore as he felt impatient while lazily walking alongside with his brother and the female knight.

"To an old friend's place... It's not that far now... Come on, you two." Reina replied with a smile as she led her horse right beside her.

"So your friend knows a place where we can stay?" Zeref turned to ask her in curiosity.

"Well, yes... She used to work in the army too but she resigned later on since it doesn't fit her style and decided to move down here instead of living in the Upper City in order to help the people here."

"So she's an accomplice of yours then."

"Sort of..."

On the other hand, Natsu had trouble following through their conversation as he can't understand any of what they're saying. He knew his brother is kinda intelligent and knowledgeable about most things but to hear such a long conversation between him and an adult makes him kinda bit out of it.

It didn't take long for them to reach to their destination as they finally stopped into a medium-sized house with a gate covering it in a distance as the two boys peered behind the knight's back and saw the house itself. It was a stone-built house with fair space for a large group of people to roam around as they saw a garden situated from the back.

But the only thing that caught the boys' attention was the amount of kids and children wandering around the entrance, playing with each other and many more. The two were only surprised since they never encountered any kid at the same of their age.

Well, to Natsu that is.

A sign board is seen atop of the entrance door of the house as a female figure soon appeared from the door seemingly chasing around the kids who were running away from her in glee as they were playing a game. She was a grey-haired middle-woman wearing a worn-out grey dress skirt that reaches down to her feet which was accompanied by a pair of brown boots.

A lot of cheers and shouts came from the children as they ran away in circles in hopes of outrunning the woman.

Moments later, the woman eventually stopped as she noticed Reina on the gate entrance and could only sport a wide smile on her face as she turned her attention towards her.

"Reina! By the gods, it's been a long time since you visited here."

"Hello Elena... Just happened to take care of things here in my assigned division..." The female knight returned with a casual gesture.

"I reckon that they might be causing a lot of trouble for the people... Haven't they got enough? The people here are getting more restless with them being around here." She scoffed in annoyance.

"Don't worry... I managed to convince the captain to settle it down..." She assured.

It was then, Elena had noticed the two other boys beside the knight.

"You've brought guests." She noted.

"Ah, yes... I brought these two here since they don't have a place to stay... I met them trying to defend the people from the division's abuses earlier." The silver-haired woman looked at the two in surprise but soon turned to worry as she saw a slight scratch from Zeref's cheek.

"Those people did that to him?" She asked with her sweet tone suddenly turning into scorn.

"Yeah... I was a little late in intervening the fight. I was glad that I managed to stop them from raising a sword on the other one."

"They tried to kill these two?! Wha...! They should've been charged with a crime already! What kind of person would harm an innocent kid?" She spoke in anger.

"Calm down, Elena... It's not like I'm overlooking this incident... I'm supervising this division and I would report any inconsistencies within this division."

"You better be... You can't let those idiots get away like that..."

"Anyway, I was hoping that you still might have some place for them to stay... These two are homeless." Reina returned back to the topic before holding both hands of the two beside her.

"Where are their parents?"

"They died from a dragon attack a month ago... These two were the only survivors." She revealed in which shocked the woman afterwards.

"I-I see... I'm very sorry to bring up such a painful memory." She apologized.

"It's fine... You don't need to worry about it..." Zeref spoke for the first time in meeting another stranger.

..

..

"In any case, I want you to take care of them from now on... It's better for them to stay here in your orphanage rather some place they don't know of." It was then Reina continued.

"I'll be glad to take them in... Plus, I think they would fit right in here with the others as well."

"That pretty much so..." Reina released a contented sigh. "Well, I have to return back to the Upper City as well... I still have to report to the Order about the division and the movement from the dragons."

She slowly urged both Zeref and Natsu right into Elena's place as she slowly patted each of their heads gingerly before turning her attention back to the silver-haired woman.

"There has been a lot of dragon sightings now is it?" Elena asked.

"Yeah... And they all seemed to be on the same element."

"Then that would mean-

"That's right... ... There's a dragon king nearby..."

"I see... Well then, may the gods watch over you, Reina..."

"You too, Elena... I promise to visit here again if I have the time." And with that, Reina bade her farewell on the three and simply sprinted away towards her destination as the three watched her disappear into a corner.

Turning her attention towards the two new orphans, Elena smiled warmly at the two as she slowly went ahead from them and opened the door to her house.

"Well then, I guess we should head inside as well... but first, let's get you two a good and warm bath."

..

..

* * *

 _ **A few hours later...**_

After being taken into a warm bath and given with a spare amount of clothes, the two eventually finished their tasks and went towards the living room where Elena was. She was currently dusting the room to keep it from catching any cobwebs and other dusts that might leave the room entirely untouched for a long time.

A couple of sounds resounded from the outside as children ran around the garden outside to spend their time there along with the others.

"We're done..." Natsu spoke as they revealed themselves to the silver-haired woman.

"Oh, I never expected you two to be finished that early... Most of the kids would enjoy their time in the bath, you know... I guess the clothes are fitted enough for you."

"Thanks for the clothes... ... We only got little what we have before we're transferred here in the kingdom."

"I see... I hope the place fits to your liking." She smiled.

"Are you kidding me? This place is enormous! It's like a palace or something!" Natsu blurted out in glee but not long before Zeref lightly nudged him at the side to show some respect.

..

..

"It's alright... Most of the kids that arrive here are happy since they had a home to return to. Just like you two, most of them were also refugees outside the kingdom." Elena frowned a little bit as her thoughts went back to the time where she was still trying to establish her own orphanage for the homeless children. It was that time when people are all panicking in the Lower City, unable to do anything since they were both living on poor conditions and had limited resources to survive.

Children at that time were the most powerless, especially the abandoned ones. It was the main reason why Elena wanted to quit the army and try to create a home for those kids in order for her to rekindle their hope and the warmth that they'd lost from their real parents that have passed away.

She wanted to be the parent for them all, seeing that she wanted a future where no child would ever have to suffer once again. The alone is what makes her to keep on living for the sake of them.

"So are we suppose to sleep here?" Zeref then turned to ask.

"Well unfortunately, some of the kids who were sheltered here before you two have taken the spot but it's nothing to be worried about... There's a building right next to this house which housed all of the recent kids like you two. There are still some spare bunk beds inside for the two of you so feel free to use it as you wish."

"Cool!" Natsu cheered.

"Alright then, I suppose I should introduce myself properly to you two... I'm Elena Hearthspire. It's nice to meet you, Zeref, Natsu."

"Same here." Natsu nonchalantly replied which soon resorted him a bonk on the head by Zeref due to his attitude.

"Well, I guess we should introduce you to the others as well... I'm sure everyone will be eager to meet you two." She smiled as she went ahead of them in which only made the two brothers to look at each other for a moment before following her in suit as they made their way to the other building where most of the kids are currently residing.

..

..

With the height of the day still pointing at noon, kids roam around in their spare time, playing each other as the three slowly made their appearance on the entrance. Natsu and Zeref were somehow surprised to see the amount of beds situated inside. Elena must've been searching for lost children for quite a long time now, seeing the amount of kids present inside.

Soon afterwards, Elena made a slow but loud clap to catch the attention of the kids inside as all eyes soon darted over to the silver-haired woman in curiosity.

"Everyone! I know this is a bit sudden but I'd like you all to introduce our new members..." She paused as she urged the two boys in front of her. "They are Zeref and Natsu. Starting today, they would be living here together with you and I hope all of you would be make friends with them, alright?"

There was a simultaneous reply of "Yes." as the other children nodded in response to the silver-haired woman.

After a few moments, Elena soon led the two to their respective bunk beds just located in the near corner as the kids simply watched them in curiosity. Natsu eventually settled right first to his own bed and sat on the side, finally feeling the soft cushion of the bed all by himself.

With Zeref still standing beside Elena, he turned to bow towards her as a sign of gratitude.

"Thank you for letting us stay."

"It's no problem at all, Zeref... I'm just glad to be of help. Oh, and by the way, I'd like you to come with me for a bit... There's something I'd like to talk to you about."

Hearing the need of his presence, Zeref took a moment to think about it as he looked momentarily at the playful pinkette on the bed before looking back at the silver-haired girl.

"I suppose I don't mind... I've got a lot of time to spare so it's fine."

"Well then, I guess that's settled..." Both of them nodded briefly to each other as Zeref soon turned his attention back to Natsu who finally stopped his play time on their new beds.

"There's something I have to discuss with Elena-san... Don't do anything troublesome, alright?"

"Sure..." Natsu grinned widely as the black-haired big brother smiled back and nodded in response before going back to Elena who soon made her way outside and back to her house together with Zeref, leaving Natsu behind with the rest of the kids.

It was till then, the noisy atmosphere began to continue.

..

..

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile, back at Zeref...**_

The two eventually settled inside the living room as Zeref sat into one of the chairs, waiting for Elena who simply went off elsewhere to get something before discussing about a certain matter. He took a moment to look around at the place as it was filled with old antiques and furniture that still stood for such a long time.

The continuing noise of the children outside resounded through the silent room until Elena came back with several papers in hand as she laid it down on the table right across Zeref before sitting on a nearby chair on the opposite end.

"So what do you want to talk about?"

"Well, I heard from Reina of what happened earlier between you and those men."

"Ah about that... It's nothing great, really. All I did was cause trouble." He apologized sheepishly.

"No, not at all. In fact, I was surprised that a kid would actually stand up to those guys... Knights of the Order are not all that kind towards people here in the Lower City." She mused.

"So what does it have to do with me?" He asked in confusion.

"Judging from your age, I think you're finally capable of having an education. When children grew past their age, they were sent to an academy in order to learn magic and the outside world as well. I think it would be beneficial for you to attend there and learn a lot of things." She offered in which shocked Zeref greatly.

"R-Really? I can go to an academy?!"

"Of course... There are others who are attending at Mildian Academy right now... It would only take a few words for me to get you in." However, the name of the academy further surprised the black-haired boy.

"Mildian Academy? Isn't that the most prestigious academy in the Upper City?" He stammered in surprise.

"Yes... ... All the children that have gone past their age have attended there with my help since I used to be affiliated in the Order back in a day." She explained.

"That's- too much... I don't think I can accept that kind of offer. Just providing us with a place to stay permanently is enough for us." He tried to turn down her offer to the academy but Elena could only smile warmly towards him.

"I'm not forcing you to accept it though but I recommend that you should give it with a lot of thought for now before you can decide." She reasoned.

"But what about my work at the factory?"

"I'll be supervising you from now on... But if you want to still continue working, it would be fine but it would consume you a lot of time while you're studying."

..

..

There was a brief pause between them until Zeref released a sigh.

"So... those are my choices on how I would go on with my life, huh?"

"Take your time thinking it through... I'll be waiting your answer in the next two days or so... Just remember that whatever path you choose, I would be there to support you, alright?"

And in just like that, Elena stood up from her seat and eventually handed him a small envelope which contained the slip of entering Mildian Academy. Zeref took a deep thought while looking at the envelope itself, thinking about the choices that he wanted to choose to determine his future.

Well, there's still a lot of time to think about it and consulting Natsu with this matter might be a great idea for him to get his final decision.

..

..

* * *

 _ **Back to the orphanage...**_

With all the kids wandering around, Natsu silently sat beside his bunk bed since he doesn't have anything to do to make friends and that the presence of many children somehow makes him uncomfortable.

It's probably because he never encountered kids around his age that often and that he always rely on his big brother for any problem he had under him. Glancing to different parts of the place, Natsu saw that there's a wide majority of boys than girls and the groups and peers were mostly on with the same genders.

He could tell from their faces that there were some who were intimidating while others were timid and meek towards other people. Natsu couldn't see himself in both sides.

With Zeref still not returning yet, he already lost his patience thus, causing him to wander off from his place and eventually settled elsewhere from the orphanage. Seeing a lot of kids running past by him, playing around kinda makes him envious. Sure, he's still a kid but the trauma that he experienced back at their village, changed the most of him.

He learned not to cry and sometimes he tried to act out independently when matters have started to get serious.

You could say that he kindly matured a bit but not under good circumstances.

It was then he finally found himself near the door. He was about to go out and meet with his brother until a certain group of boys caught his attention from the corner of his eyes.

They were three of them and they all looked kinda the ones running show in the orphanage when it comes to dominance. They were seemingly trying to bully a little girl who seemed to be cornered by the three of them as they were all bullying her in the process.

"Hey you, little midget... ... Why are you so damn clumsy?" One boy from the group teased the little girl. He had an unusually long black spiky hair that is slicked at the back. He wears a small sleeveless black tunic with matching black pants. His face is consisted that of a smug grin that could easily piss Natsu off.

The other two were surprisingly not that intimidating but their groupings together with the spiky-haired kid makes to be the dangerous group in the orphanage. One is a blonde-haired kid with a mister-goody face while the other is a somewhat weird kid since his face was neither changed as if he harbored no any emotions at all, although his lack of hair seemed to add up to his fierce look.

A couple of kids who weren't involved in the scene could only stay away from the three, ignoring the little girl alone which somehow makes Natsu kinda angry at some point.

There just too many of them who are not willing to help the little girl since they feared of getting beat up by these dudes.

"I-I'm sorry... It won't happen again." The little girl shrieked in fear of the three.

"You better be... Damn, I always hate people who are slow-pokes..."

"Hey, aren't you a bit to hard on her already, Gajeel?" The blond-haired kid spoke.

"What are you talking about, Sting? It's been days and she could never even lift up a single cup on her own." The spiky-named, Gajeel scoffed in annoyance.

"Well, she's the newcomer and you always crush those sods on the first day..."

"She's been here three days ago." The bald and emotionless kid reminded them.

"You don't have to remind us about that, Ryos." Sting retorted.

..

..

"Hey!" Just as they were about to continue to bully the kid, a voice cut through them as they all darted their eyes on the pinkette, standing defiantly in front of them as if he has some business with them.

"What do you want, kiddo?" Gajeel asked.

"Stop bullying her! Idiots." Natsu retorted.

"Oi, oi, oi... This is my first time seeing someone's answering back to you, Gajeel." Sting remarked.

"Isn't that the newcomer from earlier?" Ryos noted. But as he said that, Gajeel went on for a devious smirk.

"Well, well... To think that I get to meet the newcomer... What's wrong with that hair colour? Did you dip your head onto some pink paint or something?" He mocked as a couple of laughs went around the onlooking kids.

It was then Natsu finally stood up in front of the little girl in between the three with a dead serious expression.

"Stop being cocky, Spikey... I hate kids trying to bully the others for no reason..."

"Well it seems like you need to be taught a lesson..." Gajeel soon began to crack his knuckles as if raised his fists to fight in which Natsu did the same. A couple of kids soon noticed the impending fight going on and began to form from all sides, surrounding the two kids as Sting and Ryos backed away to the crowd to watch also.

"You're gonna regret messin' with me, Pinky..."

"Who said I'm regretting this? I'm tougher than you think..." Natsu smirked.

All seemed to end into a big fight as Gajeel made the first move and tried to connect his right fist towards the pinkette's face. Natsu quickly leaned his body back to avoid the swing then soon charged in below and connected his own fist towards Gajeel's stomach, sending him back as he lightly made a spasm from that sucker punch.

"Oh, Gajeel is being pushed down?!"

"This kid's pretty good!"

A couple of cheers went over to the crowd as Natsu balled up his fists before looking towards the staggering spike-haired kid with a taunt.

"Is that all, Spikey?"

"Don't get so full of yourself... I'm just getting started." Gajeel smirked before raising his fists up again.

"I'm all fired up!"

It was for a brief moment until both fighters lunged towards each other with their fists cocked up and ready to nail each other's face down.

 **SMACK***

The sounds of their fists connecting to their faces reverberated through the hall as the kids in the crowd, roared even more louder than it was before, seeing the fight was starting to get more intense between Natsu and Gajeel.

Both sides never wasted time catching their breaths as they continued to fight each other. Gajeel successfully kicked the pinkette's right to the side, causing him to stagger away and land on the ground, clutching his side in the process. However, Natsu fully ignored the pain and stood up instantly which surprised Gajeel as he was immediately tackled right in to the ground with Natsu holding him down.

The pinkette sent multiple punches right into his face but Gajeel mustered enough strength to use his feet to throw him away from him as they both stood up with their faces battered and clothes slightly tattered from their fight.

"You're not bad at all... Where did you learn how to fight, huh?" Gajeel remarked.

"By myself... I learned to protect myself... You're not also bad yourself, Spikey..."

"Heh... You look interesting... I guess we should end this, huh?"

"Not planning to take this long anyway."

Preparing themselves for the final blow, both kids tried to make for the final punch until a booming voice resounded from the door as all eyes darted over to Elena and Zeref who just came inside, only to find that a fight was ensuing between Natsu and Gajeel.

"What's going on here?! Gajeel, Natsu? Why are you fighting?" Elena shouted. All the kids except for Gajeel and Natsu and the little girl scattered away as the two made their way towards the duo.

"Natsu! I told you to keep away form trouble... What have you gotten yourself into?" Zeref scolded as he proceed to take a look on the pinkette's slightly bruised face while Elena turned on to Gajeel at the same time.

"Gajeel? What's the meaning of this? I told you before to be nice to the newcomers..." Before Gajeel could even speak, Natsu turned to answer her question.

"He was bullying a little girl so I tried to stop her but he challenged me..." Natsu spoke.

"Oi! Shut it, Pinky!"

"Is this true?" Elena asked. Natsu simply pointed over to the little girl near them who was still processing of what just happened.

"Gajeel... I want you and Natsu in my room, alright... You too, dear..." She looked over to the little girl. "We'll discuss this matter seriously, okay?"

And with that Elena went back to the house leaving Zeref to take care of the situation. He helped Natsu get back on his own feet before helping the little girl and led her away from the scene.

Natsu dusted off his clothes for a moment and tried to follow Zeref afterwards until Gajeel called him.

"What's your name?" Gajeel asked.

"Huh?"

"Are you deaf? I'm asking for your name, idiot!" He hissed.

"The hell are you mad about... Why would I share my name to a prick like you?"

"Why you-" As he was about to go for another bout with him, Natsu cut him off.

"It's Natsu..."

..

..

"Natsu... I'll remember that..."

"You better be... You?"

"Gajeel... Better not make me mad the next time we see each other."

"I could say the same to you..." Despite their cold replies to each other, both boys grinned at each other. Something tells them that they're gonna be rivals from now on. On the other hand, Sting and Ryos were surprised to see that Gajeel had actually acknowledge someone for the first time.

"Hey, Ryos... Did just Gajeel ask that kid's name?"

"Yes, he did..." Came the monotone reply.

"Well, that's surprising... I wonder who that kid is..."

And in just like that, the course of the day inside the orphanage continued.

..

..

* * *

 ** _On the Upper City... Near the Order's headquarters._**

"Are you sure about this?" Reina asked as she stared onto to the large map place onto the large table together with some of the knights. Apparently they were having a meeting right now about a certain threat that involves the common sightings of the dragons near the borders.

"There's no doubt about it... With the same elemental dragon coming out on those places, there's no denying that a dragon king is nearby." One of the knights reported.

"Have you found it yet?"

"Unfortunately, no... Our scouts tried hunting on the forest several miles away from the kingdom but they were met with obstacles along the way.

"Well, that's to be expected... It's a dragon king. A ruler of one of the dragonkind. It's more powerful and dangerous than any normal dragon we encountered right now. But to think that it would somehow surface here near the Central Kingdom... I wonder what its motives are." She pondered in thought.

"What are we gonna do?"

"For now, keep a sharp eye onto the skies, I'll have to send word for Acno to deal with the situation. He's the strongest dragonslayer among us and if that dragon didn't make its attack on the Kingdom, we'll have no reason to attack as well. Plus, we need to consult with our other dragons about the identity of that dragon king."

"Vicelogia sent word about the dragon's identity. He somehow knew it and was supposed to be his former comrade before the war could start." One of the knights handed a paper to Reina.

"The White Dragon? He knows this dragon."

"Yes, and he claims that he's one of the dragons that no human would dare to face..."

Reina only nodded in response as she slowly opened the paper presented to her. It was written in draconian language but Reina was taught to be a dragonslayer so she has enough sufficient knowledge about the culture and history of the dragons.

Her eyes narrowed as the name of the unknown dragon was finally revealed to her.

"Igneel."

* * *

 _ **A/N: And stop! There you go. That's the end of chapter 3. Hope ya like it!**_

 _ **So a lot of things were thrown right in the bat. Gajeel, Sting and Ryos made their first cameo appearance in this story and also Vicelogia and Igneel too. Wendy will have her own appearance on the next chapter so don't worry. And also, I suppose there's also one person from the past who was revealed right here, right?**_

 _ **I'm too lazy to think up a name for him and it's best for him to stick to his canon name in order to avoid confusion. Next chapter would feature Zeref's first days in his academy and a possible time-skip in the later chapters.**_

 ** _I still need some time to flesh out some character roles before we could even play Natsu's part in meeting Igneel. Oh, and by the way, don't mistook Igneel to be ruthless to humans. Something big will be revealed onto this part as well when the two meet for the first time. Let's just say the people mistook him to be part of the dragon oppressors or some sort of like that but anyways, I'll reveal his true nature in the future._**

 ** _See ya guys on the next chapter and thank for your continuing support for this story!_**

 ** _\- wiErD SpeCtrumz blacking out... ... ..._**


	6. New Lives and New Friends

**A/N: Sup guys! wiErD here and I got another chapter for you guys.**

 **Hope ya like it.**

 **Disclaimer: Hiro Mashima owns the whole franchise. Support the official release.**

* * *

 **\- New Lives and New Friends -**

After all the whole ruckus that happened awhile back at the orphanage, Natsu together with his brother is called out into attention towards Elena's room to discuss the fight between the former and Gajeel. All of them were situated over to a seat facing Elena's table in which she currently sits at the moment together with the small girl who was also involved in the situation.

The two boys have been already hissing at each other with mocking expressions despite the issue being delivered. Things like these were often reported to her whenever a kid comes into bad terms with the other and eventually started causing problems for the others kids who weren't involved in it.

Luckily, Zeref was there to stop him from getting into trouble.

"I'm really sorry for my brother..." Zeref apologized in advance.

"Hey, it wasn't me! It was him, Zeref-nii!" Natsu protested as he pointed an accusing finger towards Gajeel who snorted in response.

"Give your brother a break, will ya? It was you who started it!"

But before the whole argument could escalate, even more, Elena lightly slammed her hand on the table to show her stern expression towards the two before softening her gaze and prepared to speak.

"There's not going to be any punishment being laid out on anyone. I just want to know what really happened."

"He was bullying that girl!"

"He was acting like a real piece of shit!" The two boys spoke in unison.

"Gajeel! Your words." Elena scolded. She sighed for a moment before looking back to the little girl beside her who had been quiet for the whole time. Seeing her scared expression, Elena could only lightly pat her head in reassurance, seeing that she will not get bullied afterwards despite revealing the truth to them.

It's one of the things Elena wanted within the orphanage. To have kids to learn from themselves and do the right thing. The little girl fidgeted from her seat, unable to tell the truth since she caught a glimpse of Gajeel making hand gestures of cutting his throat as a means of threat which only made her scared.

It was not long until Natsu shoved him out of his seat to reassure the girl and smiled wide.

"Don't be afraid, dear. I want to know the truth." Elena urged until the girl finally decided to speak.

"G-Gajeel is at fault..." She whispered but it was enough for everyone to hear as Elena turned towards the spiky-haired boy with a dispirited sigh.

"So it was you again." She sighed in realization.

"I-I was just helping her to carry things properly. She's been breaking cups for the third time and cannot even lift a single broom to clean the house." He tried to defend himself.

"And you can see that she's still a little girl... Can you expect her to do things that she's not ready for?" Natsu butted in with a serious gaze in which Zeref caught afterwards.

"You can't force a kid to do things that she's not capable of. Everyone has their limits and everyone doesn't need to deserve like this even though things wanted to let her experience it either way. I've experienced and seen things that I shouldn't have experienced but no matter how you get away with it, it'll keep coming back no matter how hard you try to forget it!"

Everyone was just silent as Natsu ranted on and on before finally stopping as his brother was able to understand what he just said to them.

Words aside, it just made him realize how much Natsu had changed over the past few months since the day of their parents' death. A kid like him shouldn't have experienced all those horrifying things and all the hardships he went through before settling here in the orphanage.

It just shows that he experienced worse than any other kid.

Of course, Gajeel was lost at words since he could see the seriousness in the pinkette's eyes and could only stutter in his seat which then brought another wave of silence before them until Elena finally spoke again.

"Well, I guess that wraps up all the problem here. I just wanted to know what really happened and I'm not handing out punishments since some of you were first timers in the orphanage." She paused before looking back at Gajeel.

"I suppose you should thank Natsu for that. I'm overlooking this incident once but if I catch you bullying other kids again, there can be no second chances, is that clear?" She made a sharp tone which only made him nod briefly as Elena drew back her smile and turned her attention back to Zeref.

"Well then, now that's out of the way, I think we should all get along together, okay? I'm leaving them to you now, Zeref. I still have to attend to the other kids as well so you might as well look out for them if they started another fight with each other, alright?"

"Yes, ma'am." Zeref nodded in response.

And in just like that Elena went out of the room together with them but not long before she went on the different side of the house to take care of the other children, leaving Zeref to supervise the three kids on his own.

As they made their way back to the other building, Gajeel began to ask.

"Hey, what village are you two from?"

The little girl also perked in curiosity at his question.

"We came from Hallmoon. It's a town where our village is also located." Zeref answered.

"So what happened there?"

"A dragon attacked." This time, Natsu answered before Zeref could even reply.

"So you've been attacked too, huh? A lot of towns have been attacked recently by dragons, you know. Never thought it would escalate this much." Gajeel released a nonchalant sigh.

"So what happened to yours?" Natsu asked.

"Same as what happened to other towns when a dragon attacks. Dead people everywhere, debris and rubble piled up like you've never seen before. I was the only one who got out alive in that until the army arrived."

"You don't sound like pissed or anything."

"It happened to most of the kids here, newbie… You're not the only one who lost their parents in those damn dragons."

"And you don't give a crap about it?"

"How could I? I'm a kid without magic or anything to fight those monsters. What good will I do if I just go out there and mock some dragon who could easily squash you like a fruit?" Gajeel hissed.

"But are you just gonna let it slide like that?" Natsu asked.

"I'm not saying that I'm overlooking this kind of thing. I'm just stating that I'm powerless to do something about it. The only thing worth doing for me is to live and work as I grow."

But before Natsu could even reply even further, Zeref tapped his shoulder before shaking his head to let the spiky-haired boy be right now. He knew that he was stepping out of the bounds and Gajeel is also sensitive to talk about these kinds of things.

It didn't take them long as they reached the building as Gajeel went in on first without saying anything but not long before he left a glare towards the pinkette and went on his bed to rest with the others.

It was already late and the group had wasted so much time being lectured on the office with Elena after the incident. So far, the two brothers grew to like the place despite having some rough situations from the beginning.

The kids have already gone to sleep and only a few others are still awake from their beds doing their things.

It was then Zeref knelt in front of the little girl who was also with them.

"So where do you sleep?" He asked and the girl simply pointed at the very far corner of the room in which the two traced their gazes at and eventually found a spare bed. They could assume that it was the girl's bed.

"I see… Well, I'll see you around tomorrow. I hope you get along with my brother too if you got the chance." He paused.

"And sorry for causing such trouble."

"I-It's nothing! I-I was at fault!" The little girl meekly replied.

"No, not really. It was that stupid Gajeel's fault. He was the real culprit here so don't blame yourself." Natsu tried to cheer her up with a wide grin on his face which somehow made the little girl relieved at his words.

"C-Can I m-meet you again, mister?" She asked.

"Of course, just tell me if Gajeel is still bullying you and I'll send some fists right into his face." Natsu laughed.

"Natsu. What did Elena just say about fighting?"

"Oh, sorry but if he started it first, I'm returning the favour, alright?"

A depressed sigh came from the black-haired teenager afterwards.

"In any case, we should all head back to sleep. I still got some work from the factory but I'll be resigning soon since I was requested to go to an academy." Zeref explained as the two children looked at him in curiosity.

"Academy?" The little girl asked.

"Yeah. It's where people learn things about the history of the world and also magic itself. Elena just gave me the offer to enroll in an academy."

"Cool!"

"In that case, I won't be around most of the time with you Natsu so I advise that you stay out of trouble, okay?" He warned.

"Yes, Zeref-nii." Natsu nodded in response.

With the three finishing up their business with each other, they soon parted ways as Zeref and Natsu went in their direction where their beds are located apart from the little girl. It was not long until the latter started to call out the little girl one last time.

"Hey! I didn't get your name by the way."

"W-Wendy… Marvell." The little girl muttered but Natsu was able to hear it clearly as he placed a thumbs-up towards her with a smile.

"I'm Natsu Dragneel! Nice to meet you, Wendy. Let's play some other time soon, okay?"

Although he didn't hear any reply from her, he could see that she was quite happy with what he said and could only nod in response before heading back to her bed to sleep.

Eventually, the two also went on their way and slept in their beds to rest for the night.

* * *

 ** _The next day..._**

"Naattssuuu~" The teary-eyed Alice ran from her bar counter as she saw the pinkette along with Zeref who just recently came to visit the bar. The news about two boys being abused by the knights went all over town and Alice could not help but worry since she hasn't got the time to talk to them after that incident.

Yet seeing them alright and okay surely lifted her big worries and simply ran over to them with a smile.

It didn't take long as Natsu was simply tackled from the ground while being hugged by the older female which kinda hurts actually.

"A-Alice-nee. My back hurts!" Natsu tried to tap the barmaid which somehow caught her attention and finally decided to break up the hug.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I just wanted to see you two okay. I learned what happened yesterday. Why didn't you inform me?!"

The pinkette turned towards his brother for answers who only sighed for a moment in order to start his explanation right back to the very start.

"Well, things happened after that and we're kinda invited by a knight-"

"You're going to the army?!" She shrieked in horror.

"No! I haven't finished yet…" Zeref deadpanned but continued soon afterwards.

"As I was saying, we were invited to stay at an orphanage since she found out that we're homeless and have no parents. I got a request from the owner of the orphanage to study to an academy while being provided all the things we needed to live from now on. This is maybe the last time I'm ever going to work at the factory. After that, I might have to accept the offer soon."

"Does Natsu have anything to say about this?" Alice asked.

"Well, he's totally fine with it. I think he'll do well enough in the orphanage while I'm away." He reassured.

"I see… So this is goodbye, huh?" She frowned. Upon saying that, the two looked at her with confused looks.

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, since both of you have a place to stay, I might never see you, boys, again."

"Huh? We can always visit here anytime we want. We're not going anywhere." Natsu reassured.

"R-Really?" She cried comically in tears.

"Yeah!"

And in just like that, the two boys were wrestled down to the ground once more as Alice cried in the joy of their stay. For sure, she thought that they would be taken into the army to train and fight those dragons but I guess they're not part of the army and she wanted it to stay that way since she valued those two like real brothers despite not entirely related to each other.

Eventually, the three broke apart their embrace and Alice began to ask in another topic.

"So did you two found any new friends in the orphanage?"

"Well, not exactly. We did get a rough start, no thanks to Natsu by the way." Zeref sighed in depression though he could catch a glimpse of his brother slightly pissed at his reply just now.

"It's Natsu, alright. Always going into trouble, young man." She teased.

"It was that stupid spiky-haired kid's fault! He was bullying Wendy, dammit!" He had enough of being scolded and being made fun of.

"I know but that doesn't mean that you should pick a fight! You should've taken that matter to Elena, right?" Zeref suggested.

"I don't know. I just acted out of instinct to help out! Is that bad?" He asked doubtfully.

"No, it's not that really bad. I think it's quite the opposite of it. It's a good thing for others to have kids like you helping out without hesitation. That sort of personality and attitude draws them closer to you and feel happy together. Having yourself to be looked after by those around you makes you feel safe in their hands and that they always help you whenever you're in trouble." Alice spoke softly.

Whenever one of them felt troubled, her sisterly side always comes out to comfort them when needed. Aside from her usual comical actions towards them, she sometimes also displayed seriousness towards the situation whenever she can.

Looking at the troubled face of the pinkette, she couldn't help but soften her gaze at him and tried to reassure him from his doubts.

It was one of the things why Zeref and Natsu became friends with her and lived together like close siblings.

Meanwhile, Natsu's face eventually lightened up as he hugged the white-haired barmaid affectionately who returned the same gesture.

"Thanks, Alice-nee!"

"You're welcome. Always remember, whatever obstacle lies your way, don't hesitate to help others when they needed help. But don't always resort to violence, alright? That's what your brother was trying to remind lately." She suggested.

"Okay!"

On the other hand, Zeref watched the two for a moment before noticing the track of time.

"I gotta go. I still have some work at the factory but I'll be resigning soon so I'll meet you two later in the afternoon."

"Take care and also be careful out there." Alice advised to which he nodded in response.

* * *

"So you're quitting huh?" Arthur voiced out in realization as he faced Zeref who seemed to be finished with his things in the factory.

"Yeah. I got a request to attend to an academy from a knight so…"

"It's alright. A kid like you should learn more than to work in a place like this just to keep living. Honestly, I'd like to thank you for standing up to those guys. Not many of us here dare to lift our voices against those people." Arthur frowned.

"I just had to point out their mistakes and abuses. I suppose that doesn't work on this part of the kingdom."

"I agree with you boy. Anyways, you should go. You have a bright future ahead of you, Zeref. The others are gonna miss you here."

"Don't worry. It's not like I'm leaving this place entirely. I can always come back to lend a hand." He smiled.

"I'd appreciate that but I think we'll handle fine from here. You focus on your own things and help that little brother of yours. Both of you are quite special, you know."

Zeref could only plaster a sheepish laugh before smiling back towards his manager.

"Well then, I'll be going."

"Yeah. Take good care out there. And be careful with those guys again, especially on that Tellus guy. You know he won't try to let it down after what you did to him." He warned.

"I will. I'll see you around, sir." Zeref bowed.

"Good luck out there, Zeref." Arthur bade farewell on the lad as he packed up his bag and left the factory to head back to his little brother.

* * *

 ** _The next day... At the orphanage…_**

Natsu and Zeref sat on one of the chairs at the far corner of the table as they receive their own breakfast from eating in the morning. The flow of children lining up from the dining hall continues to pour out as more of them came from the other house to take their meals as well.

Natsu immediately dug right in with his food and ate silently while Zeref slowly ate beside him with a new set of clothes.

Of course, the pinkette also recognized the outfit and could not help but ask.

"Did Elena gave you a new pair of clothes?"

Judging from its appearance, his clothes consisted that of a white long-sleeved uniform with golden trims located on the edges. A symbol similar that of a dragon was seen on the pocket located on the left side of his chest. He also wore a pair of black pants and a pair of black shoes to fit on his lower part.

Zeref placed down his utensils before looking back at him.

"This is the uniform for the academy I'm enrolled at. I'll be wearing it every time I get to the academy, you know." He said.

"Why can't you just wear anything? I mean, you could just put on any clothes, right?" Natsu replied innocently which only made his brother smile in response before patting his head.

"When you grow up, you'll understand it."

"Okay. I can't wait to grow up!" Natsu shouted in delight.

The two brothers continued their meal as soon time passes which resulted with Zeref heading out first to attend his first days as a student in his academy.

Elena was beside him, acting as his guardian on his first entry along with some other kids who were the same age as him. They all stood outside the orphanage with several children seeing them off as Elena gave them their farewells to each other.

"Good luck, Zeref-nii!" Natsu shouted from afar as the figure of his brother walked ahead before glancing back to give him a wave at the distance.

This will be the first time he will be alone without his brother's help. Although it's sad, he'll have no problems adapting to the new environment since it's much better than being left alone in the streets. He can always come around when he comes home and tell about amazing things he learned from the academy.

With a renewed gaze, Natsu smiled as his brother disappeared into the far distance and quietly went back to the orphanage to spend his day there.

With a couple of children running around the building, he stayed at one table holding one of the books Zeref borrowed from Elena to help him learn.

He waded through the crowd of kids and sat himself alone in the table to read.

"U-Umm–" A shy voice resounded from his back, prompting him to glance back and widened his eyes at the figure.

"Oh, good morning Wendy." He spoke in a casual manner but the little girl could only squeak at his reply.

"O-Oh, g-good morning, Natsu-nii." She shyly spoke.

"Nii?" For some reason, Natsu felt dumbfounded at greeting but regained his composure afterwards.

"I-Is something wrong?"

"U-Uh, no. Not actually. I'm just surprised that you called me Nii-san since I was used being the little brother. Natsu's just fine." He reassured with a toothy grin. His reply surprised the blue-haired midget but decided to keep it and tried to act as normal as possible to him.

"What brings you here by the way? Did you eat your breakfast?" He asked.

"Y-Yes…"

"Hmm… I see."

It was Wendy's turn to speak.

"W-What are you doing here, Natsu-san?"

"I was just reading some book my brother borrowed for me. I was about to read it, though. Do you want to read?" He offered.

"I-uhh–I'm not sure." She frowned a bit.

"It's fine. It's not like I have anything to do today. Plus, I've read it a couple of times so…" He scooted over a seat for her. Wendy hesitated at first but ultimately decided to accept her offer and sat beside him and began to read it herself.

"A dragon story?" She looked at him in curiosity after looking at the title.

"Yeah. It's a story of a man who became a dragonslayer to save his family from the dragons. You can see how he battled one of them here…" He flipped the pages, explaining every bit of the story in it. Wendy carefully listened to his words like an obedient child.

As minutes passed, the two started their normal conversation. Wendy giggled every time he tried imitating the character in the story and tried making some funny sounds that caught the attention of some other kids in his vicinity.

Her shyness disappeared in an instant after getting to know him better. They continued to talk to each other about their own lives.

"So what was your village like?" Natsu asked.

"Well, it's in a windy place because we live high in the mountains."

"Is that so? That's sounds pretty cold." Natsu shuddered at the thought.

"Yup. But you could get used to it when you live long enough. The wind is nice and everyone was happy." She smiled momentarily before recalling all the events that transpired after that.

"What happened?" Natsu asked.

"Well, there were two dragons fighting near our village. I don't know much about it but our village was destroyed the moment they started fighting each other. I was the only one who managed to survive and everything is just…" Wendy suddenly trembled in fear, unable to continue her story any further.

"I-It's alright if you don't want to continue. Sorry for bringing up such bad memory." Natsu apologized but Wendy simply shook her head.

"Mhmm… It's alright. Most everyone here shared the same thing so I had to tell it."

"It seems like it."

The liveliness seemed to have come back between them until a voice interrupted them from behind.

"So this is where you at, huh?" Natsu doesn't need to turn around to know the person since the voice was familiar to him.

"What do you want, Gajeel?"

The black haired kid smirked at the mention of his name and ignored his glare.

"Yo, it seems like you got yourself early today."

"It's my routine. Plus, I got to see my brother off since he started his days in the academy."

"So you're alone now, huh?" The smirk on his lips made the pinkette glare at him even further. Gajeel noticed his gaze and simply raised his hands as if surrendering.

"Relax, I'm not here for a fight. Though it seems like the little midget is there with you."

"And what do you want with her? If you try to bully her, I'll smack you hard." Natsu warned.

"I never said anything yet and I didn't come here for a fight. As much as I hate to admit it, you saved my butt yesterday from Elena." Hearing his reasons, Natsu calmed down but Wendy only hid behind him, tugging his clothes in the process.

"So, what are you doing here?" He asked curiously.

"N-Nothing. I just came here to see if you're still breathing, idiot." For some reason, Gajeel turned away out of embarrassment, causing the two to tilt their heads in confusion.

But before they could even speak, Sting peered over Gajeel's back with a light-hearted attitude.

"He means he wants to be friends with you. Don't you get it?"

"Wha–" Gajeel choked at Sting's sudden reply.

"Huh?"

As fast as a lightning strike, Sting was met with a sucker punch towards his face as Gajeel spun his body and delivered a right hook, sending him flying away. The poor blonde kid smashed into one of the tables.

Ryos stood out to avoid trouble as he saw his partner passed out in the process.

"I told you it's a bad idea, Sting." Ryos sighed.

On the other hand, Gajeel couldn't hide his pissed look, unable to look at the pinkette with a straight face.

"Is that all?" Natsu asked.

"D-Don't get the wrong idea, pinky. I still regard you as my rival so I don't plan to get friendly on you just like that." He tried to make a poor excuse but Natsu seemed to pay no heed to it as he reached a hand towards him.

"I never really said that we'd be rivals but I accept. Plus, if that's your case, I don't mind at all. It's more fun to have friends, am I right?" Natsu smiled which got both Wendy, Gajeel and the other two to be surprised at his response. It was such a surprise to see Sting awoke despite that punch.

"E-Eh?"

"You said you wanted to be friends with me, right? I don't mind. Besides, we're all orphans here so I think we should stick together."

Gajeel stopped in his words as he can't find anything to answer to his statement just now. Normally, kids would just run away in fear because of his mean look but this one seemed different from the others.

He did not hesitate to befriend him without complaining. He does not fear him since he knows he isn't intimidated by him but his way of approaching others is surely surprising.

Reaching out a hesitant hand towards him, Gajeel accepted him.

"S-Sure."

"See? It's not that hard now, right? Nice to meet you, Gajeel."

"Y-Yeah. Thanks, I guess." The spiked-haired boy scratched his head sheepishly.

As soon as they became friends, Gajeel eventually opened up to him together with Sting and Ryos who later introduced themselves to the pinkette and also became friends afterwards.

Their conversations started out very sour since both Natsu and Gajeel argued continuously at each other while Wendy and the rest could only watch in amusement. They both contested on who's better at things and it seems like there's no end to their competition.

However, they couldn't deny the happiness on their faces. Sting and Ryos saw Gajeel enjoyed himself in the company of others beside the two of them since he never had friends that much with the others due to his personality.

Gajeel also apologized to Wendy afterwards though the latter seemed to brush it off as an acceptance despite being treated harshly by them.

The five of them enjoyed themselves together and eventually read the book that Natsu shared with Wendy before.

"So that's your wish?" Gajeel asked.

"Yeah. I want to be the person that saves everyone. I will grow up and train harder to protect those who are important to me." Natsu declared.

"That sounds like a funny wish." Gajeel snickered.

"Oi! At least, I'm trying!" Natsu glared at him in annoyance.

"Well, I think it's a good wish," Wendy commented.

"I don't know about you but I guess becoming like one of those dragonslayers is kinda super cool. I want to be a dragonslayer!" Sting agreed.

"You're not even qualified yet, Sting," Ryos added.

"Well, there are many ways for us to become like them. I'll continue to train myself until I grow up to be like them. That's my goal!" Natsu declared.

"I won't let you get ahead of me, Pinky." Gajeel challenged.

"Then, it's settled. Let's all work hard together and become one of them when we grow up!"

Looking at his energetic nature, the four couldn't deny anything from him as they nodded altogether.

"Yes!"

And with that, their lives are now set to that one goal. There will be a lot of obstacles in the future but they're confident that they would overcome them and reach their goal.

* * *

 **A/N: That's it for this chapter. Next would be a four-year time-skip in which in this case, making the age for both Zeref and Natsu to be 14 and 11 respectively.**

 **This chapter will now serve as the beginning of Natsu finally meeting Igneel and possibly the gift of fire dragonslaying to him in the process.**

 **Well, the five kids are finally together and became friends. There's going to be some changes in some of them in the next chapter so look forward to it.**

 **See you all in the next chapter!**

 **\- wiErD SpeCtrumz blacking out… … …**


	7. Year X291

**A/N: Sup guys! wiErD here and I got another chapter for you guys.**

 **Hope ya like it.**

 **This is the four year time skip where Zeref and Natsu have grown to teenagers and with their age at 14 and 11 respectively. Happy reading! ^^**

 **Disclaimer: Hiro Mashima owns the whole franchise. Support the official release.**

* * *

 **\- Year X291 -**

The orphanage is full of activity.

Morning had already dawned on the mountains and the people began to work on their lives inside the Kingdom. Some of them wandered the streets to start their day while knights and mages patrol to keep the area safe in the process.

The voices of children were heard all over the neighborhood as the orphanage continues on their daily activities in taking care each one of them. They played around the house and into the garden to pass their time. Sometimes, they occupy the second building and played around with their friends though most of them are nothing but goofing around and making a fuss out of each other.

However, on this current time, the whole orphanage is holding a racing event and in the midst of those children were two boys running across the orphanage. They are the most prominent stars among them as they raced against each other towards the path where the race was set. Other kids stopped by to watch as they went past from their destination, gazing at them in delight.

Each of them cheered on their favorite players, seeing that the two are mostly equal judging from the close distance from each other.

The two boys continue on their race as they ran past the stone pebbles and into the garden. A wooden fence is seen at the end, leading back to the finish line. The two simply lobbed them over the obstacle before landing back again on the ground and continued running.

A series of pants and heavy breaths escaped through their mouths as the two desperately tried to outrun each other.

"Haah... Haah... Haah... I'm not... gonna lose to you!" The other managed to shout out loud as sweat covered his face and his expression started to indicate his growing fatigue.

"Gihi... Like... I'm letting you go past me!" The other grinned, finding the other boy to be his challenge as they continued to sprint towards the race path.

The sight of the finish line was soon sighted in their eyes as it coupled with a bunch of other children waiting for their return. The cheers can be heard in their ears as they make for the final track towards victory.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

A scream of victory went from the duo as they made their leap towards the white line until the sounds of the children finally roared loud at their close finish. The two boys stumbled onto the ground after the long run, trying to catch their breaths as several of their friends soon tried to get them some rest. However, they simply denied the offer and focused their attention on the grey-haired woman who supervises the event.

She raised her right hand to quell down the noise as the children stopped their cheers and waited for the announcement of the winner.

The two stood beside each other with exhausted looks but their eyes mainly focused on the woman in anticipation.

"The winner of this race... Gajeel Redfox!"

A series of shouts and cheers went on all over the crowd as Gajeel raised his fist up in the air in victory. The other, however, simply lowered his head in depression and looked at the winner in contempt.

Gajeel soon noticed his glare and responded with a smirk.

"I win this time, Pinky!"

"Hmph... You got lucky. I'm just a point away from you. Next time, I'll beat you for sure." The boy replied with a renewed determination as he pointed his finger towards his opponent in anticipation. Instead of getting depressed, he took the loss and fueled his redemption to defeat him on the next race.

"Heh, I'll look forward to it." Gajeel grinned, putting aside his competitiveness and reached out a hand towards him.

"Yeah..." Natsu also smiled, accepting his hand and congratulated his opponent on the win. The two shook hands and celebrated the end of the event as the crowd cheered for them.

They both raised their fists in the air in smiles as the two looked at each other in determination. The cheers went on for quite a while as some of the other kids approached the two in admiration, amazed by their performance on the race. It was starting to look like these two are popular though in the minds of the children in the orphanage.

Elena could only stare in content as the atmosphere around them seemed to be going well than it was before. It's already been four years since Natsu and Zeref joined in the orphanage.

A time she deemed long enough to change a lot of things inside this place. The kids were livelier than they were from before since they mostly look up to these two as role models. Even until now, they still admire them like their big brothers.

"Alright, alright... Time to clean up, everyone. We still got a big day ahead of us. Lunch will be served soon so be ready to wash yourselves and be on time, okay?" She clapped her hands, catching all their attention and announced her word to all of them

The crowd could only shout a unified 'Yes' as they began to clean up the mess around them and started to gather all the things left during the race. They picked up small trash while some took out some cleaning tools in the storage room to sweep all the dirt away.

Natsu and Gajeel nodded with each other as they approached Elena after the event.

"You two should take a break. Running around surely takes a lot of energy, doesn't it?"

"Iyaa... I can still help with the cleaning." Natsu reassured while placing his hands behind his head with a grin.

"I can too..." Gajeel also insisted.

"Alright... But don't overexert yourselves. You just finished your competition with one another so take good care, okay?"

"Haii...~"

Elena went on ahead to attend some matters inside her house, leaving the two to clean up with the others. Natsu and Gajeel walked ahead to second building to start with the cleaning until they were interrupted by three more kids that were familiar with them.

"Natsu-san!"

"Oi, Gajeel!"

Three figures approached the two as they called out their names. Natsu and Gajeel easily recognize them and could only put a smile as they neared towards them. One of them was a girl who had blue hair tied into a ponytail. The other two were simply boys at the same age. One had a blonde hair while the other had black.

The three are familiar with the two since they've been hanging out with them as always. It could be said that all of them are a group

"Hey, Wendy... How's it going?" The pink-haired boy spoke as the girl handed out a filled cup and a towel for him in which he accepted as he proceeded to wipe away his sweat and began to drink.

"Good work... Here are some refreshments. You and Gajeel-san are working hard as always." She beamed with a smile as she looked at the spiky-haired boy who also accepted the drink and gave a light nod in a form of showing his gratitude.

"That was an awesome race out there, Gajeel. So who's ahead between you two?" The other two boys, specifically, the blond haired one asked as the two contenders looked at each other irritably before Gajeel turned his attention back to speak.

"I'm one point ahead of him. If he challenges me again, I'll make sure to give it a two-point lead."

"Heh... Like that's going to happen. I'm taking back that point and beat you again, Gajeel." Natsu crossed his arms with his face full of confidence as he looked away with a smirk.

"You're never going past me, Pinky."

"What did you say?!"

"You hear me, I'm going to end this rivalry once and for all and prove that I'm stronger than you." Gajeel boasted.

"Like hell, you would. I can take you down on my own." Natsu rebutted.

"Oh really? You're not strong enough."

"Wanna prove it to you, Cactus-head?!"

"What did you say, Pinky?!"

"Spikey!"

"Pinky!"

The two butted their heads against each other as they exchanged their insults on their names and appearances, leaving the other three with a sweatdrop all over their heads at the sudden turn of events. The smooth atmosphere was immediately broken and the two are already at glaring each other like sworn enemies.

"Ah, here they go again."

Ryos sighed as he watched his two friends battling each other with glaring looks at each other. Sting could only go along with the flow and watch the full scene in excitement while Wendy trembled in fright at the possibility of another fight between them.

"Awawawa... P-P-Please stop, you two." She meekly tried to calm the two but it was no avail.

"Just let them be, Wendy... They'll calm down sooner or later." Ryos placed a reassuring pat on her shoulder.

"B-But..."

"He's right... They'll get over it in time. It's not like they're going to hurt each other that badly. Natsu and Gajeel just couldn't get along but that's what makes them really pumped up to keep their rivalry as long as they could." Sting added.

"Plus, I think by now it's going to happen soon," Ryos stated as if expecting something during the fight.

It didn't take long for the next scene to unfold as Elena returned back to check with the others, ultimately noticing the two fighting each other once again. The two boys were left unaware of her presence but her glowing aura soon made them stop and looked at her with fear.

 **"Natsu... Gajeel... What did I tell you about fighting with each other?"** Her sweet expression immediately turned dark and cold as her aura could be felt emanating out from her body.

Wendy and the other two boys could also feel the terror despite not being the sole attention in the woman's eyes. They almost forgot that she was a former mage from the Kingdom so it's quite scary to think that she would have such a frightening aura.

It's no wonder why Natsu and Gajeel can't let out their frustration with one another when she's around.

Speaking of the two, they cowered in fear as they faced her intimidating aura, prompting them to kneel in front her to apologize...and probably to spare them of her wrath in the process. There have been a couple of times where they get their punishment from her, starting from Natsu who initially challenged her authority.

Needless to say, he was scarred for life when he saw her other cold personality. And that made him sure to avoid getting caught in the future.

"W-We're sorry!" They tried to apologize but her aura never went down as she looked at them with red eyes that made them tremble on their knees.

"QUIT FOOLING AROUND AND GET BACK TO WORK, YOU TWO!"

"Y-YES!"

* * *

A couple of minutes passed and the whole orphanage gathered around the second building where the kitchen and the giant dining area are located. Kids of different age formed up into two lines as they waited their turn to get their food from the cooks.

The group got their lunch and settled into a long table along with the other kids to pass their time.

Natsu and Wendy sat together while Gajeel, Sting, and Ryos sat across from them. It's their usual spot since Wendy had more attachment to the pinkette than the rest of the three―which kinda makes him her brother figure.

Sting and Ryos stick around with Gajeel like some sort of a henchman―though, on some cases, Sting would simply try to get along with Natsu as well, seeing him as a good friend to all of them.

The group happily enjoyed their meal as they eat to satisfy their hunger and talk about some things as well.

"Haaaaaaa~ Nothing beats better than roasted meat!" Natsu placed down his plate as he finished his last food while giving a look of satisfaction on his face.

"Hmm... I wonder how you find roasted food delicious. Are you an idiot or something?" Gajeel replied.

"Tch, I didn't ask you, nosy kid."

"Who you calling kid, huh?!"

"Okay, okay... We all know where this is going. Can we try to at least be more diligent ourselves?" Sting butted in before any of their heating argument could turn in for the worse.

"Sting's right... I think by now. We should all start to get along with each other." Ryos added.

"Tch... He started it." Natsu pointed accusingly over to the spiky-haired boy.

"Muooo... We're all eating together. Why did it have to go through here?"

This time, it was Wendy who decided to speak as she frowned yet again at the sight of the two, seeing their usual bickering has even reached during their time of lunch. Natsu and Gajeel halted their words against each other as they looked at the blue-haired girl in worry who is now wearing a pouted face.

Her eyes were set onto her plate and her expression soon turned somber which in turn, caused the two boys to silently head back to their seats and end their argument.

"Fine, I'll let slide for now... Just for the midget." Gajeel muttered grumpily as he went back to his food.

"My bad, Wendy..." Natsu apologized with a softened gaze as he quietly sat beside her to keep himself behaved around them.

"Haaaa... I'm actually beginning to feel bad for Wendy now." Sting sighed in worry while taking another dip to his food to eat.

"Iye... You don't have to worry about me. I know Natsu-nii and Gajeel-nii don't mean anything in their fights. I just don't want it to go that far." She smiled afterward, lightly flailing her arms in reassurance.

"Hora... You heard her. Consider her feelings a bit more seriously."

"Alright, I get it. I already said it before, right?" Gajeel retorted as he looked away in dissatisfaction. Sting and Ryos could only apologize to the other two for his behavior in which they accepted in the process. It's not like this is the first time they ever see him looking away like that.

It's more like a common occurrence every time he and Natsu get into an argument. The result would be unpleasant but they seem to make up with each other and forget about the whole fight later on. Even so, it hurts to see if one member of the group feels contempt on the other so this is one of the things that gives their group a negative influence on others.

It's not like you can find a perfect group somewhere in the orphanage... Every group has its flaws and the flow of conversation between members doesn't always end up good for them. Disagreements are always bound to rise up within their circle―and it's their job to cope with it themselves.

...

To change their current atmosphere, Natsu simply began another topic as he gazed back at the blue-haired girl in question.

"That reminds me, do you have any female friends, Wendy?"

"Eh?" Came the dumbfounded reply since he asked a rather unusual question.

"Oh, now that you mention it, I've been also wondering the same thing. It would seem like you're only hanging out with us all the time, considering that we are all boys." Sting pondered.

"Hmm, I'm curious as well." Ryos followed with an undertone. Gajeel left a small glance towards them, indicating a small hint of interest to the topic as well.

The blue-haired girl gave a surprised look but immediately softened as she begins to speak in a rather calm voice. Her eyes set themselves down on her little feet as her thoughts were processed into words to her mouth.

"It's not that I'm not good at making friends. It's just that my approach on other kids doesn't make it right for me." Her voice softened as she voiced out her honest thoughts.

"In other words, you're shy..." Ryos assumed with an expression of realization.

Wendy didn't bother to deny that one fact about her current personality. As a result, she

"But how come you never get so shy when you first met us? You used to fear Gajeel a long ago because he's bossing you around." Said person stumbled out from his seat out of awkwardness and glared his eyes towards Sting in annoyance.

"That was a long time ago, idiot!"

"Well, you would've not stopped if Natsu didn't come running around defended her that time."

"K-K-Kuh... It was a learning lesson! A learning lesson, I tell you!" Heat rushed up to his cheeks as he found no way in covering his past mistakes that actually left him embarrassed around them. If Natsu and Wendy hadn't been around, he would've beaten the crap out of Sting for bringing up such a thing.

However, just before Gajeel could go on further to threaten the nosy blonde-haired kid, Wendy mildly giggled under her breath that soon caught up with the other four as they stared at her in surprise.

"W-What's so funny?"

"Hnnmm... It's just that this is the first I actually see Gajeel-nii getting flustered."

"H-Hmph... Hanging with you guys is probably the hardest decision I've ever done in my life."

"Hoho...~ And you don't seem to hate it. Come on, Gajeel. At least, show a bit of honesty here."

"Do you want to get punched, Sting?"

"F-Forget what I just said earlier..." He easily took back his words as he noticed the dark aura emanating from his body as if he was unleashing some sort of malevolent power inside him.

Silence hailed down for a few seconds until Wendy broke off with another statement.

"I knew Gajeel-san didn't mean all that long ago―but even so, I'm very thankful for everyone at that time. Natsu-san was my first friend and he taught me a lot of things I didn't know. It was also the time we can all be friends with each other right now." She smiled while recalling her thoughts back when they were little.

"...We're a bit complicated back then. Who would've thought we would come together as a group?" Sting reminisced.

"It's an unexpected development indeed..." Ryos whispered.

"Well, it's not like I have a problem with it. I'm glad that I'm in this group." Natsu voiced out.

"I agree with you on that."

...

A few minutes later, they now started to calm down and began to have their normal conversation with each other. Gajeel also joined in as well, finally over with his embarrassment and joined along with the group as well. There were several topics they talked about with themselves and even gave a laugh at some parts.

They spent the rest of their time talking with each other as the time slowly went for the afternoon. The group eventually returned their plates on the kitchen before making their way outside to the garden to hand out.

"That reminds me, how's your brother by the way?" Gajeel suddenly asked, initially taking the pinkette by surprise before returning back to his composure.

"He's fine, I think... Studying at the academy and all―but I think he's really busy at the moment so I can't be bothering him all the time when he comes home later."

"He's amazing... Your brother that is. I heard he advanced another level this year. Pretty cool if you ask me." Sting complimented but Natsu could only voice out a bored out expression upon hearing all those things from him.

"I hate schools..."

"It's useless to complain, Natsu... We'll be attending there as well a year from now. You can't stop the inevitable." Gajeel stated.

"Screw that! Reading things like books is boring! I'd rather stay here!"

"B-But they say there are a lot of things out there that might be interesting," Wendy spoke timidly, with a slight hope in easing up the subject.

"Of course there are! From what I've heard, they're teaching about magic and stuff. They even get the privilege of meeting some of the best mages throughout the Kingdom. They might even try to recruit your brother because of his intelligence." Sting explained.

"Really?"

"Yeah!"

...

Confirming his thoughts, Natsu set his eyes above the sky as soon as they got out of the building and wondered deeply. The word term, magic, had himself completely intrigued since long before he and Zeref arrived here. He never really witnessed it with his own eyes but he heard tales from his brother who always comes telling him more about it every time he comes back home from the academy.

It only fueled his curiosity to know more about it...

"Magic, huh..."

Aside from his brother's tales, his fascination towards magic began from the dragonslayers themselves. Stories of powerful warriors that protect this kingdom from the dragons are what motivated him to actually wanting to meet one.

Although he knew that he couldn't become one due to his inability to hold magic in his body, he'd still hoped for the day where he would somehow become a person who would have the power to protect those he cared about.

His thoughts were left in a wondrous state that he didn't even realize that he wasn't walking anymore.

"What's wrong, Natsu? We got a job to do in the garden. It's our shift, remember?"

"Hurry up, slowpoke!"

Hearing his friends' calls, he nodded as he sprinted fast to catch up with them.

"Coming!"

The other four smiled as soon as he made it beside them and went on their way to the garden to do their work. The sun continued to shine from above and the normal days of the orphanage went on throughout the afternoon.

* * *

 ** _Mildian Magic Academy..._**

Towering pillars supported the main entrance of the structure which was made out of stone marbles carved accordingly in the same intricate pattern similar to the whole design of the building itself.

A large statue of a woman donning a pair of wings behind its back stood at the front of the structure itself―serving as the symbol of the academy itself.

The main entrance is attached to a larger building that stretches out far wide in a couple of meters between sides. Most of them are rooms designated for the students of the academy―each with different uses depending on what subject is brought up in the process.

On a certain room full of students, Zeref sat on one of the seats located in the middle section of the class.

They were about fifty students inside the room―himself included. The interior contains multiple seats occupied by the class and a small table and chair is also provided for the teacher and a few several things used for academic purposes can be also seen in some parts of the room.

They were currently under lecture as the teacher continues to speak in front of them, explaining different notes written on the board beside him.

"...Let's say for about each mage has a container that housed their magic. The theory of the Second Origin tells about a second container that is hidden under the potential of each mage that if proven and unlocked, it would greatly boost the capacity of the mages to last longer in a battle."

"But sensei, how can we possibly know that it exists?" One of the students raised their hand in question.

"It is said from the studies that mages who were in the battle for a long time, eventually develop this container without realizing it―as said that their sense of focus on using their magic becomes more natural in the process. In other words, mages who develop this change happens naturally as if thinking that it was their product of training."

"Can the non-magic users develop this kind of changes too?"

"Now that's a pretty good question. Let's say..." The lecture went on steadily as the students listened carefully to each and every word he says and took notes in the process.

Zeref silently yawned from his desk as his mind suddenly lost its track on the subject and wandered his eyes over to the window on his left. He turned his head and gazed at the trees swaying back and forth, due to the winds blowing outside.

He faintly tapped his pencil onto his paper repeatedly and gave a long sigh to show his boredom.

"Zeref Dragneel, I suppose you're out spacing again." A sharp voice finally cut through his train of thought as he glanced back to his teacher who stopped his lecture after noticing his sigh from earlier.

"I guess so... I'm sorry, Sensei."

"I've heard of your talents from the other teachers and that you kept advancing from one grade level over another but you're forgetting the fact that this is the Mildian Magic Academy and it's not a place to show your boredom to the class." The teacher spoke sternly as all eyes now pointed over to the black-haired teen in abhorrence.

It's only natural for them to show such an expression due to the fact that he was a year younger than them but is already studying advanced magic lessons due to his unchallenged intellect.

Zeref could care less of their threatening stares as he kept himself composed throughout the conversation and only set his eyes over his teacher with a casual look.

"Well, seeing that you don't share any interest in this topic, would you be so kind to summarize the lesson for today."

As if wanting to humiliate him in front of the class, the teacher simply gave away his position temporarily to the boy who only closed his eyes for a moment and gave another sigh once more.

A few moments of silence went on for quite a while as some of the students started whispering to each other―most of them spoke nothing but mockery and ridicule towards him.

"What's wrong? You seem to have a hard time explaining all of it." The teacher taunted but his next words were cut off as he began to speak as well.

"The theory of Second Origin holds the fact of a second magic container hidden deep under the potential of a mage. The theory of such container is conducted in the year X195 under the authority of King Therus in hopes of maximizing the potential of humans against the onslaught of the dragons..."

As soon as he started explaining, a couple of students were taken by surprise at the information given to them―such as the brief history of said topic which wasn't mentioned at the beginning of the lecture.

Zeref continued to speak for a while, elaborating examples and more knowledge to the subject. The rest of the class could only stare in shock at his explanation as he finishes his part.

"I believe that's all I want to say now, Sensei... Or perhaps should I even include the possibility of the Third Origin lecture."

"Y-You... How did you know all of this?!"

"Quite simple really... Devoting your time to studying and sifting through all the history of our civilization can be done without fail no matter where you stand on the level of our society. If people devote themselves to such a task, then it would be easy to know your future..."

"Tch... You're way above your head, Zeref Dragneel. Don't forget that you're not under the privilege of attending this academy if not for your so-called intellect―but if your behavior becomes a problem, you might not get to see this place once again."

His tone is now at the level of a threat. At this moment, any student who goes against their teachers swallow their pride and remained under the chains of their absolute authority. The system of the Kingdom hold these people as the same as the nobles from the Upper Kingdom―due to their intelligence.

Because they hold the key for the future generations, they were paid in high costs and given titles despite being only educators.

Zeref knew all of this after learning much of the kingdom's history.

He didn't like the current system but he also cannot do something about it due to his current standing in the society.

Initially, he was only recommended to join the academy because of Elena's request. If he didn't have her as an associate, he wouldn't get the chance to get enrolled in this place.

Noticing the tense atmosphere welling up around the room, Zeref sat down to his seat and heeded his teacher's words.

"My apologies, Sensei... It would never happen again."

"Hmph... Good that you know your place. Now going back to our lesson..."

The mood returned back to normal but the scorned looks remained on some of the other students in the room―directed towards him.

There was no need for him to do anything about them. It can't be avoided to get such an impression towards him since he came from the Lower Kingdom. The gap between the rich and the poor are just way too deep to even get one side to acknowledge the other.

...

A couple of minutes passed and school is finally over. Most of the students finished their work and went straight out of their classroom. Zeref took all his belongings and placed them in a small bag and silently went out to the hallway.

Multiple students flooded the main hall as they head out for the exit and straight to their homes. The halls were filled with noises as more students scrambled through the hallway. The sun was already setting and the orange hue is seen above the sky where clouds blew overhead.

Zeref walked his way outside but momentarily stopped in his tracks as his eyes noticed a familiar figure waiting for him.

Her long blonde hair shined perfectly at the setting sun and the same attire that she wears during her visit to both here and the orphanage made it easier for him to recognize her.

"Ah, Zeref!"

"Reina-san..."

The female knight approached the teen with a smile as she gave a light smack onto his back, prompting him to flinch. Her heavy gauntlets almost got him stumbling forward to the ground but he manages to keep his balance and stared towards her in confusion.

"What are you doing here, Reina-san?"

"Oh, you know, checking out to see my little protégé is doing in his studies―and it looks like you've gained some fans."

"So you were listening, huh?" He guessed, dismissing her light sarcasm about his incident with the class earlier.

"I happen to be in the area. It can't be helped if I have a good sense of hearing."

"So what made you come all this way? I heard that the kingdom is on high alert of a dragon attack a few months ago." Zeref asked curiously as the knight made a slight pause before answering his question.

"Ah, I got my permission to settle down for a while. I'm planning to visit the orphanage again... Oh, that reminds me, how's your little brother doing?"

Zeref only turned to face the view he originally came for.

"He's doing fine. He made some friends and even learns to become responsible himself even when I'm not around. I suppose it's part of growing up for him."

Reina hummed after his reply as she let go of her hold from the boy and normally walked beside him as they make their way to the path leading to the Lower Kingdom.

"I see... I guess that's good. It's been four years since you two joined in the orphanage. Elena is still taking good care of you, no?"

Zeref nodded before replying.

"Yes, she is... I'm grateful for her letting me study in the academy even though I'm just an outsider. Not many had the chance to get to this place without the consent of someone from the higher ups."

"Well, she saw the potential in you and she was correct. Who would've thought that you'd advance right from the end of your first year? An intellect like you is not something we'd see in a century." She praised which earned his embarrassment as he scratched his head with a sheepish look.

"That's going too far, Reina-san... Anyone can actually do what I do if they could put their effort into it..." He paused as he drew back his hand and gazed in front with a wistful expression.

"...But even with all this, I can only work hard for the sake of Natsu. He was my only reason why I should keep on living. I promised Mother to look after him whenever I can and watch him become an important figure in this kingdom." A small smile crept onto his lips as he looked up to the setting sky in content.

Reina could only stare in awe at his declaration, prompting her to pat his head in reassurance.

"What a fine big brother he has... I bet Natsu's really glad to have a brother like you." Zeref appreciated the praise.

The two smiled though not realizing the track of time as they talked long enough with each other and decided to pick up the pace towards the town.

...

They arrived just as the sun had gone down from the horizon and the sounds of children playing around can be heard from the outside as they stood before a small metal gate that leads to the main house.

Zeref walked inside along with the female knight, the latter, however, immediately got herself surrounded by a couple of kids due to her presence―who were delighted to see her by the way.

"You go on ahead, I'll have something to talk about Elena." Reina urged as he shook his head before heading on his way to the second building where the majority of the kids are present.

The place is lively as usual as kids packed up into pairs and even into groups to pass their time till their night curfew.

His eyes set themselves over to the far corner of the place where multiple beds were lined up for each children living in the orphanage.

A smile went up on his face as he saw Natsu together with other four as usual and decided to approach them.

"Zeref-nii!" Natsu called out as soon as the big brother finally arrived from school. The others also greeted the older sibling as they saw him approaching them to their place.

"Good evening, everyone... How's your day?"

"Pretty fine, I think. We had a race and it was fun." Natsu grinned wide with his hands placed behind the back of his head while the other four simply sat beside each other with a smile of their own.

"I see... I'm glad you're all getting along well. Anything interesting happened today?" He spoke with inquisitive eyes.

"Well, if you mean that Natsu and Gajeel played around in the garden and accidentally broke one of Elena's favorite plants thus, giving them another week of pulling out weeds―I guess nothing else happened." Sting elaborated but it didn't take long for the mentioned duo to glare at the blonde kid.

"I told you we're not mentioning this to anyone!" The two tried to control their voice due to Zeref's presence but it was enough to put the message right through as Sting noticed their hostile looks towards him.

However, it was already too late to cover up the mess as Zeref simply sighed, knowing that the two did something wrong while he was gone.

"You guys did something again, huh?" He spoke, letting out a bit of depression.

"Hey! It's not our fault! We just tripped by accident! We apologized too!"

"Well, it's fine as long as you were sorry for what happened. You know what happens when you get her in a bad mood, remember?" Zeref scolded, causing the two to shudder in fear at the mention of her wrath.

Apparently, everyone is fully aware of Elena's stern nature and it's probably one of the reasons why she's capable of handling the whole orphanage herself. She still harbors some caring qualities towards them if they're disciplined enough to follow the rules.

Some of the kids had given her a title without her even knowing it due to the horrifying experience they had with her.

...

After talking for awhile, Zeref stood up from his seat and began to head out back to the first building to report to Elena of today's school. Natsu and the others resumed back to their usual conversation, leaving the older teen to smile in relief as he went out to the entrance and headed straight to the back door of the first house.

There are several kids who were inside the place but Zeref simply turned over to a private room where Elena and Reina were supposed to be at. He could hear faint voices coming out from the other side and decided to wait since it was a somewhat important matter.

It didn't take long as the door suddenly turned open and Reina came walking out from it―seemingly done with her conversation with the old woman.

The female knight was momentarily surprised upon seeing him but recomposed herself afterward.

"Oh, Zeref... Reporting for today, I presume?"

"Yeah... I figured you and Elena might be having an important discussion so I had to wait."

"It's fine now... We're just finished with our talk... She's right inside." Zeref nodded as he walked right through and saw Elena sitting by her table with a somewhat grim look on her face.

"Here for the report, Elena-san." The woman suddenly replaced her frown as soon as she noticed him coming in.

"A-Ah, yes... Sorry to keep you waiting, Zeref-kun." She smiled, renewing her tone of voice.

"What was that about?" He asked, wanting a slight bit of answer about their conversation earlier.

"It's nothing to worry about. Anyways, how's your school?" He expected an avoidance of the topic so he simply dismissed the thought and replied to her question thoroughly.

"It's going smoothly, I think... Lessons are piling up more often but I can handle them. And there's the talk about an event that will be announced tomorrow."

"Oh, I see... I was informed of the said event. It looks like they'll be sending in some mages onto the academy to search for some talented students―you know, to look for something interesting." She explained.

"Is that so? I guess, it would be a big event." He assumed.

"Apparently, one of those mages would be the leader of the Order, Acno Draconia."

"Never heard of him."

"Naturally, you wouldn't―because he's often away fighting the dragons from the outside." She stated though earning his curiosity at the last part of her sentence.

"Fighting dragons?"

"Yes... He's the most powerful dragonslayer that is feared by both dragons and other mages. Admittedly, I didn't like his nature. He's way above over his head and I constantly warned him about the power given to him from time to time." She muttered.

"I didn't know you were part of the Order."

"Ahhhh, that's because I never mentioned it to you or any of the kids. Should you notice it by now since Reina kept visiting this place once in awhile?"

"Well, I had my suspicions by I never intended to delve into the matters of adults." He smartly replied, earning the woman a slight bit of surprise of his collected mind.

Of all the other children of his age, he was the most capable person to handle every situation―whether it be a small or huge matter. His firm mind made him look like an adult despite his young age.

She was amazed to see how he approaches each topic carefully with planning and doesn't even falter to whatever comes to his mind in thinking about the subject. It's one of the reasons why she sometimes tolerates him in every important topic―though it's still strange for other people since he's just a young kid.

"Very clever... But leaving that aside, how're you holding up? Do you have any plans for the upcoming event?"

"There's still time to think about it so I'll give it a thought till I hear the full details." He answered.

"I see... Best of luck to you. I hear one of those mages might be able to recommend you in the future once they saw your talent. This might be also a chance for you to gain better connections from the higher ups." Zeref nodded at her advice as he turned around to the door, seemingly finished with the report until Elena called him back.

"...Just one more thing, Zeref..." She paused, prompting him to look back with curious eyes.

"...Stay away from Acno. I'll be glad if you gained some reputation but be careful around him. He's not someone you can trust completely." Her voice sounded grave and serious apart from her sweet expression from earlier which made him tense.

However, he understood her warning and simply nodded yet again.

"Sure..."

―Before closing the door behind him.

As soon as he left, Elena took a small breath of relaxation as she sat down at her desk and gazed up at the ceiling. Silence returned to the room as she released a sigh before turning back to her current thoughts.

There are a lot of things she needed to think about, concerning both the future of the children and probably even the future of this kingdom.

The situation within both the Upper and Lower City are becoming much worse.

She's no longer part of the Order to appeal to some associated members to ease the tension. She predicted that it would only worsen by time and she worried about the safety of others.

The kids are too young to learn such complex things and it's her job as their acting parent to give them all the support they needed once that happens.

She stared at the window located beside the room as the night darkens.

 _"Everything is starting to look bleak... I just hope to see it all end without harming the children."_

...

By the time Zeref returned to the second building, the whole place was now silent. The once boisterous room of playing children is now replaced with a peaceful silence as all kids slept in their bunk beds to pass the night.

There were several candles lit up on some places to give a bit of light to the dark building. Zeref silently made his way to his own bed, placing down his bag and took some several notes and a pencil before placing them near a small desk located beside his bed.

He took a small candle as light for his study and began writing down his notes. The sound of scribbling papers was heard only to his ears as his mind focused on the notes he was writing on.

"You're still studying, Zeref-nii?"

A familiar voice soon cuts through his train of thought as he glanced over to the side and smiled.

"You still awake, Natsu?"

The pinkette took off his blanket that was covering his whole body and finally sat straight to properly look at his big brother with interest.

"Well, of course... I always found you studying late at night."

"Sorry, I'm just a bit busy today. You don't have to worry about it."

Natsu silently stood up from his bed.

"Where are you going?" Zeref asked, his eyes soon peered over to the thing he was holding in his hand. His papers were left unattended as he glanced towards his little brother with an inquisitive look.

"A-Ah, this... I'm just heading out for a bit."

"It's already past midnight. Alice already closed her tavern at his hour. Where else are you suppose to go?"

"Just a place near here. Don't worry, I'll be back quick." He didn't give him any more explanations as he sneakily made his way to the back door which then made the black-haired teen feel anxious.

"Hold up. I'm coming with you."

He stood up from his desk, leaving his notes behind as he followed his little brother to wherever he's going. The two went outside to the back of the garden and sneaked their way into the bushes. They carefully walked their steps silently as they got past of the first building where the lights are still on, indicating there's still someone awake inside.

"So can you tell me where are you going?"

"Shhh... You'll see soon enough." Natsu urged him to ask questions later as he carefully wriggles his way to the thick branches in which Zeref also followed as they now finally made their way over to the main gate.

"If Elena catches us, we'll be in serious trouble, Natsu..."

"Relax... It's not like I've done a couple of times."

"You've done this before?" Zeref couldn't contain his surprise but luckily, the pinkette was able to cup his mouth shut before they could even raise any noise.

"SSSHHH... Not too loud. Or else she might notice us."

He drew back his hands from his mouth and proceeded on his way. Zeref was still confused and annoyed at the same time, due to the fact that his little brother was doing something like this without him even knowing.

Natsu can be a bit of a troublemaker at all times so he could've expected that this would be one of his schemes as well. However, looking how different his face was showing in this escape, it seems like he had something in mind that he won't dare to show it to anyone―well, except for him that is since he was already tagging along.

...

A few minutes passed and the duo made their way into some small open field with several gravestones placed around it. The stones were built poorly that even some shallow graves are only given with a piece of wood.

There are even some cases where others are left unmarked.

Zeref took a brief look around the place and noticed Natsu walking towards one of the gravestones compacted close to other stones.

He followed him as he placed the flower he was holding into before giving a short prayer in front of it.

It was easy for him to realize what he was meant to do in this place after seeing the crude writing written on the stone itself.

The inscriptions were hardly recognized but it was enough for him to understand as the name suddenly gave him a short flash of memory a couple of years back.

"This place..."

"I decided to build a gravestone here for her. It's not as beautiful as the ones I saw in other places but it was good enough." Natsu's voice was unusually solemn.

Zeref did not want to relive the painful memories that happened on that day but it seems like he still remembered.

"I see..."

"I visited here every once in awhile just to remember her by. I always pick a different flower on every visit since she was fond of them." He paused as he glanced back to him.

"Ne, did you remember? Mom likes all kinds of flowers. She always goes onto the fields just to pick some of them for decorations."

"I do... In fact, there was that one time where you accidentally gave her a poison flower. You almost gave us a heart attack." He remarked but Natsu answered with an adorable pout.

"Hey!"

The two shared their moments of laughs until Natsu turned back to the gravestone in wonder.

"Those were the days we had with her―even with Father as well."

"Yeah..." Zeref answered sadly.

"It's been four years since then... I miss them so much..."

As he spoke, he didn't notice his brother crouching beside him as he gave a pat onto his head and give him a reassuring smile.

"Me too... I think mom would appreciate all the flowers you've been bringing up to her until now. I bet she'll be really proud of you, Natsu."

It was needed for him―for both of them. They shared their tough times and endured so many pain but they were able to pull off on their own because they care for each other. Even right now, their lives still had a lot of obstacles lay in front of them.

Zeref wanted to help him overcome these obstacles and support him in any way he can. He was his precious little brother after all.

They both looked back to the gravestone with smiles on their faces. Zeref touched the stone with a deep thought as he read through the inscription made by the pinkette.

"Mother, there are a lot of things I wanted to tell you about my little brother. He's grown into a fine young boy just like our father―loud, wild, and even stubborn." He chuckled as he felt his sides nudged by the displeased pinkette due to his explanation.

"...He made some friends and is always looking out for others. He has a big heart that cares for his friends. I'd like to watch him grow into a fine young man who would one day change this world for the better. I know you'll be watching him as well at that time―and we missed you so much."

"...Just wanted to let you know that we're doing fine here. Elena's been a good person to us. She gave us a new home―oh, and there's Alice. She might be a perfect big sister for us since we rely on her from time to time. Anyways, you don't have to worry about us. I'll always look after for him and keep your promise."

He ended his speech as he looked back to the pinkette who gave a smile of his own before giving one last glance to the stone before leaving.

...

They returned without much of a problem as Natsu soon slept on his own bed and Zeref returned back to his studies besides his desk.

He took a glance over to the sleeping boy as smile went over to his lips.

 _"Natsu, you've matured quite a bit."_

He was never wrong in putting his faith onto him. He believes that he would one day become a significant figure in the future―to both him and those around him.

It'll be his job to watch him develop and stand on his own to finally help the people who needed his help.

With his friends beside him, he could assure that he'll be fine on his own. He will a pave way for his own path and he knew many would come to follow him as he is the type of person who could move the hearts of many.

He couldn't explain it yet but he felt that he would become someone who will unite all those around him and change this world for the better.

A loud sound suddenly snapped him back to reality as Natsu's loud snorts almost made him chuckle a bit.

It almost made him doubt that his vision might be a bit off after seeing his silly look.

He simply gave a smile as he patted him once more to the head.

"Good night, my little brother."

With that, he returned back to his previous venture as the night passes on to the next light of day.

* * *

 **A/N: And there's the chapter. Hope you like it guys. Just a quick reminder that the OCs of this story will be posted on my wall soon so feel free to browse their history to give you guys some standing point in recalling their names and history when reading this story because this would get a bit OC-centric due to having a different story line apart from the canon.**

 **Oh, and I've read the latest chapters so you'll be expecting her to be in this story also. (If you know who I'm referring to.)**

 **Anyways, leave your thoughts on the review and tell me what you guys think about this chapter so far and I'll see you onto the next chapter.**

 **\- The wiErDos send their regards...**


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